Volume 134, Issue 50 e202212874
Forschungsartikel

Room-Temperature Ring-Opening Polymerization of δ-Valerolactone and ϵ-Caprolactone Caused by Uptake into Porous Pillar[5]arene Crystals

Dr. Kenichi Kato

Dr. Kenichi Kato

Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510 Japan

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Koki Maeda

Koki Maeda

Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510 Japan

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Prof. Dr. Motohiro Mizuno

Prof. Dr. Motohiro Mizuno

Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University

NanoMaterials Research Institute (NanoMaRi), Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192 Japan

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Prof. Dr. Yuta Nishina

Prof. Dr. Yuta Nishina

Research Core for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530 Japan

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Dr. Shixin Fa

Dr. Shixin Fa

Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510 Japan

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Dr. Shunsuke Ohtani

Dr. Shunsuke Ohtani

Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510 Japan

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Prof. Dr. Tomoki Ogoshi

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Tomoki Ogoshi

Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto, 615-8510 Japan

WPI Nano Life Science Institute, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192 Japan

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First published: 06 October 2022

Abstract

Confined space provides a reaction platform with altered reaction rate and selectivity compared with a homogeneous solution. In this work, porous phenolic pillar[5]arene crystals were used as a reaction space to promote and perturb equilibrium between lactones and their corresponding polyesters. Immersion of porous pillar[5]arene crystals in liquid lactones induced ring-opening polymerization of δ-valerolactone and ϵ-caprolactone at room temperature because the phenolic hydroxy groups have catalytic activity via hydrogen bonds and the pillar[5]arene cavities prefer linear guests. After the reaction, pillar[5]arene and polyesters formed pseudo-polyrotaxanes.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.