Keynote
Mechanistic Insights into the Catalytic Synthesis of Polyesters from Biorenewable Feedstocks

As replacements for petroleum-based plastics, environmentally-friendly polymeric materials derived from biorenewable feedstocks hold great promise as scientists seek to implement green chemistry practices for sustainable technological development. The widespread implementation of biorenewable polymers will require knowledge of the chemistry involved in converting the molecules (natural or engineered) provided by plants into compounds that can readily be converted to new and useful polymeric materials. In this lecture, the results of experimental kinetic/mechanistic and complementary theoretical studies of two routes to sustainable polyesters will be presented: (a) ring-opening polymerizations of cyclic esters by Al and Zn alkoxide complexes, and (b) alternating copolymerization of epoxides and anhydrides. In this work performed in collaborations under the rubric of the Center for Sustainable Polymers and a US-Israel Binational Science Foundation grant, detailed insights into the nature of key intermediates and transition states as well as ligand effects on polymerization rates will be described.