Recyclable polymers based on hybrid bicyclic lactones prepared by selective sp3 C-H activation

ongoing

"As the world increasingly recognizes the urgency of sustainable resource management, the role of plastics has come under intense scrutiny. While commercial plastics offer essential benefits to modern society, their inherent drawbacks in end-of-life management have caused severe and long-lasting environmental damage. The REPOLHYCA project seeks to contribute to the crucial effort of developing next-generation plastics that combine high performance with full recyclability, aligning with the Plastics Strategy of the European Green Deal. The project will focus on aliphatic polyesters derived from bicyclic ""hybrid"" γ-butyrolactone monomers, which hold significant potential as useful and fully recyclable materials, capable of complete depolymerization back to their monomers, thus enabling a truly circular plastic economy. However, these materials’ performance and production costs are still unsatisfactory for commercial viability, mainly due to the complex and inefficient multistep processes required to access the monomers. The REPOLHYCA project aims to overcome these limitations by leveraging the expertise of Supervisor (Prof. Miquel Costas) in selective C-H functionalization and Fellow (Dr. Francesco Zaccaria) in catalytic polymerization. The project will develop an unprecedented library of structurally diverse hybrid lactone monomers using streamlined synthetic methodologies developed by the Supervisor’s group, enabling selective one-step γ-lactonization of abundant substrates (carboxylic acids) with earth-abundant metal catalysts (Mn) and environmentally friendly oxidants (hydrogen peroxide) under mild conditions. The Fellow’s expertise will then be applied to convert these new monomers into polyesters and assess their material properties and recyclability. The resulting structure-properties database will prove essential for identifying and designing advanced, sustainable polymers."