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Bicyclic Guanidine Promoted Mechanistically Divergent Depolymerization and Recycling of a Biobased Polycarbonate
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Researchers demonstrated that the organic catalyst TBD can break down biobased poly(limonene carbonate) through two temperature-controlled pathways — end-group activation or main-chain scission — selectively recovering a cyclic carbonate monomer that can then be re-polymerized using the same catalyst, enabling a circular recycling route.
We here report the organocatalytic and temperature-controlled depolymerization of biobased poly(limonene carbonate) providing access to its trans-configured cyclic carbonate as the major product. The base TBD (1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene) offers a unique opportunity to break down polycarbonates via end-group activation or main chain scission pathways as supported by various controls and computational analysis. These energetically competitive processes represent an unprecedented divergent approach to polycarbonate recycling. The trans limonene carbonate can be converted back to its polycarbonate via ring-opening polymerization using the same organocatalyst in the presence of an alcohol initiator, offering thus a potential circular and practical route for polycarbonate recycling.
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