Phosphoramidic acid catalyzed controlled/living ring-opening polymerization of trimethylene carbonate

Abstract The ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) catalyzed by phosphoramidic acid (PAA) and initiated with benzyl alcohol (BnOH) has been investigated. The polymerization conditions were optimized to afford well-defined polytrimethylene carbonates (PTMCs). The molecular weight of the obtained PTMC with the [TMC] 0 /[BnOH] 0 /[PAA] 0 ratio of 40:1:1 was analyzed by 1 H NMR, M n  = 4180 g mol −1 , showed good agreement with that estimated from the initial ratio, M n  = 3830 g mol −1 . The kinetics and chain extension experiments have been carried out to further justify the controlled/living nature of this polymerization. The 1 H NMR, SEC, and MALDI-TOF MS measurements were applied to analyze the obtained PTMCs.