Tuning the H-bond donicity boosts carboxylic acid efficiency in ring-opening polymerization

H-bond donor (HBD) and base co-catalysis achieved great success in ring-opening polymerization (ROP). Parallel H-bond donor and Brønsted acid (HBD–BA) cocatalysis has been scarcely explored in ROPs. In developing the HBD–BA catalysis in to versatile toolbox for ring-opening polymerizations of wider scope and better control, tunable HBDs including boronate pinacol ester urea (BU), urea (U), and thiourea (TU) were evaluated in cooperation with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in HBD–BA catalytic mode. Each of the HBD–TFA co-catalyst promoted ROPs of δ-valerolactone (VL) and ε-caprolactone (CL) successfully. The catalytic performances of the HBD–TFA on the HBD part was in an order of BU > U > TU to their corresponding ROPs of VL and CL. The turnover frequencies of the catalyzed ROPs of VL and CL by BU–TFA was twice as that of TFA. The ROPs afforded homopolymers with predicted molecular weights (PVL, M _n,NMR = 2.51–9.92 kg mol ⁻¹ ; PCL, M _n,NMR = 2.51–11.1 kg mol ⁻¹ ) and narrow dispersities (PVL, Đ ≤ 1.16; PCL, Đ ≤ 1.18) by ratios of monomer to initiator from 20 to 100. The obtained polymers were analyzed by ¹ H NMR, ¹³ C NMR, and MALDI-ToF MS, the results indicated the high chain-end fidelity. Chain extension experiments were conducted by a first ROP of VL/CL and second ROP of CL/VL with precise molecular weights (from 2.98 kg mol ⁻¹ to 6.15 kg mol ⁻¹ ) and narrow dispersities below 1.18. The kinetics plots showed a distinct first order relationship between ln([VL] ₀ /[VL]) versus the reaction time, it indicated the controlled nature of the catalytic ROP. NMR titrations supported the proposed mechanism that HBD associated with TFA and promoted the cationic polymerization.