R. Nakano, S. Ito, K. Nozaki*
Nature Chem. 2014, 6, 325–331. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1882 Highlighted in Nature Chemistry, Chemistry World, C&E News, Chemical Enginnering, Chem-Station, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed..
Abstract: Radical polymerization of a metastable lactone intermediate —formed from carbon dioxide and butadiene using a palladium catalyst— produces a high-CO2-content (29 wt%) polymer. This approach circumvents the thermodynamic and kinetic barriers typically associated with direct copolymerization of carbon dioxide and olefins, and can also be applied to one-pot co- and terpolymerization of carbon dioxide and 1,3-butadienes.