Continuous flow ring-opening polymerization and ring-opening metathesis polymerization

The combination of microflow technology and ring-opening polymerization (ROP) or ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) has been proved to be an effective method for well-defined polymers. Microreactor-based ROP or ROMP enables the distinguished advantages over traditional batchwise reactor, including faster apparent polymerization rate, higher conversion and chemoselectivity, narrower dispersity, easier scale-up and the ability to telescope several synthetic steps into a single system. In this view, ROP of a variety of cyclic monomers was highlighted, including lactone, lactide, epoxide, 2-oxazoline, N-carboxyanhydride and cyclic phosphoester. ROMP in the context of flow chemistry was introduced. Challenges and opportunities are proposed for the future development of continuous flow ROP and ROMP.