Recoverable Fluorination Accelerates Ring-Opening Copolymerisation and Enables Post-Polymerisation-Modification of Polyesters.

ABSTRACT: Fluorination of polymers is a powerful strategy to enhance chemical or material properties yet integrating these benefits into degradable polymers remains underexplored. Here, we report a new class of fluorinated polyesters synthesized via ring-opening copolymerisation of pentafluoro styrene oxide with phthalic anhydride. The pendant C₆F₅ groups accelerate catalysis through fluorine-specific π-stacking interactions and improve obtained molecular weights compared to the non-fluorinated variant giving access to high weight materials (M_n,max. > 100 kg mol^-1) with thermal and mechanical properties competitive with commodity plastics. These C₆F₅ groups then act as reactive handles in the material for efficient post-polymerisation

SUBMITTER: Fornacon-Wood C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12707361 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature