Copolymerization of CO2 and propylene oxide under rare earth ternary catalyst: design of ligand in yttrium complex

Copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide was carried out employing (RC₆H₄COO)₃Y/glycerin/ZnEt₂ (R=-H, -CH₃, -NO₂, -OH) ternary catalyst systems. The feature of yttrium carboxylates (ligand, substituent and its position on the aromatic ring) is of great importance in the final copolymerization. Appropriate design of substituent and position of the ligand in benzoate-based yttrium complex can adjust the microstructure of aliphatic polycarbonate in a moderate degree, where the head-to-tail linkage in the copolymer is adjustable from 68.4 to 75.4%. The steric factor of the ligand in the yttrium complex is crucial for the molecular weight distribution of the copolymer, probably due to the fact that the substituent at 2 and 4-position would disturb the coordination or insertion of the monomer, lead the copolymer with broad molecular distribution. Based on the study of ultraviolet-visible spectra of the ternary catalyst in various solvents, it seems that the absorption band at 240-255 nm be closely related to the active species of the rare earth ternary catalysts.