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Chapter
Polymerization by Classical and Frustrated Lewis Pairs
Main-group classical and frustrated Lewis pairs (CLPs and FLPs) comprising strong Lewis acids (LAs) and strong Lewis bases (LBs) are highly active for polymerization of conjugated polar alkenes, affording typi...
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Chapter
Polymerization of Nonfood Biomass-Derived Monomers to Sustainable Polymers
The development of sustainable routes to fine chemicals, liquid fuels, and polymeric materials from natural resources has attracted significant attention from academia, industry, the general public, and govern...
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Article
Completely recyclable biopolymers with linear and cyclic topologies via ring-opening polymerization of γ-butyrolactone
Ring-opening polymerization (ROP) is a powerful synthetic methodology for the chemical synthesis of technologically important biodegradable aliphatic polyesters from cyclic esters or lactones. However, the bio...
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Article
Open AccessChemical synthesis of perfectly isotactic and high melting bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) from bio-sourced racemic cyclic diolide
Bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) is a perfectly isotactic, crystalline material possessing properties suitable for substituting petroleum plastics, but high costs and low volumes of its production are ...
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Article
Open AccessPackaging materials with desired mechanical and barrier properties and full chemical recyclability
Plastics have become indispensable in modern life and the material of choice in packaging applications, but they have also caused increasing plastic waste accumulation in oceans and landfills. Although there h...
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Article
Open AccessDual-initiating and living frustrated Lewis pairs: expeditious synthesis of biobased thermoplastic elastomers
Biobased poly(γ-methyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone) (PMMBL), an acrylic polymer bearing a cyclic lactone ring, has attracted increasing interest because it not only is biorenewable but also exhibits superior p...
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Article
Bio-based polymers with performance-advantaged properties
Bio-based compounds with unique chemical functionality can be obtained through selective transformations of plant and other non-fossil, biogenic feedstocks for the development of new polymers to displace those...
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Article
Critical advances and future opportunities in upcycling commodity polymers
The vast majority of commodity plastics do not degrade and therefore they permanently pollute the environment. At present, less than 20% of post-consumer plastic waste in developed countries is recycled, predo...
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Article
A circular polyester platform based on simple gem-disubstituted valerolactones
Geminal disubstitution of cyclic monomers is an effective strategy to enhance the chemical recyclability of their polymers, but it is utilized for that purpose alone and often at the expense of performance pro...
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Article
Recyclable cyclic bio-based acrylic polymer via pairwise monomer enchainment by a trifunctional Lewis pair
The existing catalyst/initiator systems and methodologies used for the synthesis of polymers can access only a few cyclic polymers composed entirely of a single monomer type, and the synthesis of such authenti...
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Article
Dynamic crosslinking compatibilizes immiscible mixed plastics
The global plastics problem is a trifecta, greatly affecting environment, energy and climate1–4. Many innovative closed/open-loop plastics recycling or upcycling strategies have been proposed or developed5–16, ad...
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Article
Factoring timescale in for sustainable polymer design
When strategizing the design of sustainable polymers, the timescale must be an essential dimension, that is, even for bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics their resource utilization should not outpace resou...
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Article
Open AccessCircular olefin copolymers made de novo from ethylene and α-olefins
Ethylene/α-olefin copolymers are produced in huge scale and widely used, but their after-use disposal has caused plastic pollution problems. Their chemical inertness made chemical re/upcycling difficult. Ideal...
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Article
Proton-triggered topological transformation in superbase-mediated selective polymerization enables access to ultrahigh-molar-mass cyclic polymers
The selective synthesis of ultrahigh-molar-mass (UHMM, >2 million Da) cyclic polymers is challenging as an exceptional degree of spatiotemporal control is required to overcome the possible undesired reactions ...
