Recent progress in the synthesis of polymers based on carbon dioxide*
Hiroshi Sugimoto and Shohei Inoue
Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 12-1 Ichigaya-funagawara-machi, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-0826, Japan
Abstract: The alternating copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxide to give polycarbonate has attracted the attention of many chemists, because it is one of the most promising methodologies for the utilization of carbon dioxide as a safe, clean, and abundant raw material in the synthetic chemistry. Recent developments of the catalysts for the alternating copolymerization are based on the rational design of metal complexes, especially complexes of transition metal with well-defined structures.
Keywords: carbon dioxide polymers; polycarbonate; alternating copolymerization; rational design; carbon dioxide-epoxide copolymerization.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 15th International Symposium on Fine Chemistry and Functional Polymers (FCFP-XV) and the 1st International Symposium on Novel Materials and Synthesis (NMS-I), 17-20 October 2005, Shanghai, China. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1803-1896.