Li_2020_Macromol.Rapid.Commun_41_e2000417

This study assesses the use of immobilized lipase catalyst N435 during reactive extrusion (REX) versus magnetically stirred bulk and solution reaction conditions for the copolymerization of sigma-caprolactone with omega-pentadecalactone (CL/PDL 1:1 molar). N435-catalyzed REX for reaction times from 1 to 3 h results in total %-monomer conversion, M(n) , and D values increase from 92.7% to 98.8%, 36.1 to 51.3 kDa, and 1.85 to 1.96, respectively. Diad fraction analysis by quantitative (13) C NMR reveals that, after just 1 h, rapid N435-catalyzed transesterification reactions occur that give random copolyesters. In contrast, for bulk polymerization with magnetic stirring in round bottom flasks, reaction times from 1 to 3 h result in the following: M(n) increases from 12.4 to 25.6 kDa, D decreases from 2.98 to 1.87, and the randomness index increases from 0.74 and 0.86 as PDL*-PDL diads are dominant. These results highlight that REX avoids problems associated with internal batch mixing that are encountered in bulk polymerizations. In sharp contrast to a previous study of 1:1 molar PDL/delta-valerolactone (VL) copolymerizations by N435-catalyzed REX, VL %-conversion increases to just 40.1% in 1 h whereas CL reaches 94.7%.