Group IV complexes with nitrogen based ligands in the ring opening polymerization of cyclic esters

Abstract

The ring opening polymerization of cyclic esters has attracted much interest for the relevance of polyesters as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics. Since their first discovery, group IV metal complexes have been demonstrated to be active in the different fields of the homogenous catalysis. This brief review focused the light on the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters promoted by group IV complexes supported by ligand with anionic nitrogen atoms. The structures and catalytic activity of the complexes are discussed. The aim of this work is to demonstrate how this field of nitrogen-based ligands to support group IV metals deserves to be further investigated to obtain increasingly efficient catalysts in this polymerization reaction, which remains poorly researched.