Synthesis and properties of stereo di- and tri-block polylactides of different block compositions by terminal Diels-Alder coupling of poly- L -lactide and poly- D -lactide prepolymers

The stereo diblock (d-sb-PLA: PDLA-PLLA) and triblock (t-sb-PLA: PDLA-PLLA-PDLA) were synthesized by terminal Diels-Alder coupling of anthracene-terminated PLLA and maleimide-terminated PDLA. The d-sb-PLA and t-sb-PLA were found to form the stereocomplex crystals of PLLA and PDLA showing excellent thermo-mechanical properties.