Zn-Polyacrylate Tentacles in Microporous Organic Polymers as Nanocatalysts for Polycaprolactone Synthesis

This work suggests an in situ synthetic approach for nanoplatforms based on microporous organic polymer (MOP) chemistry. Anchoring groups for catalytic species could be simultaneously introduced to nanoplatforms in the synthesis of MOPs. Poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) served not only as a surfactant for the controlled synthesis of nanoscaled MOPs but also as an anchoring group for the introduction of catalytic species. Zinc ions could be coordinated to MOP nanoparticles bearing PAA (MOPN-PAAs) to form MOPN bearing ZnPAA (MOPN-ZnPAA). The MOPN-ZnPAA was well dispersed in neat ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) and showed excellent catalytic activities in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-CL to polycaprolactone (PCL). In addition, the MOPN-ZnPAA could be recycled, maintaining catalytic performance in five successive reactions.