Kinetics and mechanism studies on scandium calix[6]arene complex initiating ring-opening polymerization of 2,2-dimethyltrimethylene carbonate

Scandium p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene complex has been synthesized from scandium isopropoxide and p-tert-butylcalix[6]arene and used as a single component initiator for the first time. The polymerization of 2,2-dimethyltrimethylene carbonate (DTC) using this complex can proceed under mild conditions. Poly (2,2-dimethyltrimethylene carbonate) (PolyDTC) with weight-average molecular weight of 33700 and molecular weight distribution of 1.21 can be prepared. Kinetics study indicates that the polymerization rate is first order with respect to both monomer and initiator concentrations, and the apparent activation energy of the polymerization is 22.7 kJ/mol. 1H NMR spectrum of the polymer reveals that the monomer ring opens via acyl-oxygen bond cleavage leading to an active center of Sc-O.