4.06 - Organocatalyzed Ring-Opening Polymerizations

This chapter summarizes the recent advances in organocatalyzed ring-opening polymerizations. It highlights the advantages associated with the use of organic catalysts which now appear as viable substitutes for classical, often metallic, catalysts, in a context where the demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly reactants and processes steadily increases. This chapter reviews organic catalysts that are prone to trigger polymerization and monomers – in their vast majority heterocyclics – amenable to organocatalyzed chain growth. After a presentation of the four mechanisms generally found in such organocatalyzed polymerizations, the mechanisms involved in each pair of organic catalyst and monomer are thoroughly discussed. The first part categorizes the main families of organic catalysts used while the second defines the scope of each of them in terms of monomers that could be polymerized under controlled conditions.