Supporting Data for Ring-Opening Copolymerizations of a CO2-derived δ-Valerolactone with ε-Caprolactone and L-Lactide

Abstract

These files contain primary data along with associated output from instrumentation supporting all results reported in Anderson et. al. Ring-Opening Copolymerizations of a CO2-derived δ-Valerolactone with ε-Caprolactone and L-Lactide. This work has expanded the synthetic polymer chemistry of the CO2-derived lactone EtVP through ring-opening co-polymerizations with ε-CL and LLA. Polymer properties and microstructures could be tuned through concurrent and se-quential copolymerization strategies, which led to the formation of either block, gradient, or random copolymers. ε-CL block copolymers resulted in semi-crystalline polymers regardless of the molar ratio employed. For LLA, copolymers remained amorphous, and mechanical testing showed improved elasticity relative to PLLA. Furthermore, ε-CL and LLA copolymers could be chemically recycled back to monomer utilizing Sn(Oct)2. While this work lays the foundation for EtVP-based copolymers, investigation into triblocks and other end-of-life options may further improve the potential ap-plications of these CO2-based (co)polymers.