1,4-Butanediol polyester monomer

MA may also be hydrogenated to 1,4-butanediol, a monomer of significant interest for engineering polyesters. Recently, a one-step process giving >90% yield has been claimed.A copper chromite catalyst and an alcohol solvent seem necessary. 

Uses. The largest uses of butanediol are internal consumption in manufacture of tetrahydrofuran and butyrolactone (145). The largest merchant uses are for poly(butylene terephthalate) resins (see Polyesters,thermoplastic) and in polyurethanes, both as a chain extender and as an ingredient in a hydroxyl-terminated polyester used as a macroglycol. Butanediol is also used as a solvent, as a monomer for vadous condensation polymers, and as an intermediate in the manufacture of other chemicals. 

Divinyl esters reported first by us are efficient monomers for polyester production under mild reaction conditions. In the lipase PF-catalyzed polymerization of divinyl adipate and 1,4-butanediol in diisopropyl ether at 45°C, a polyester with molecular weight of 6.7 x 10 was formed, whereas adipic acid and diethyl adipate did not afford the polymeric materials under similar reaction conditions (Scheme 3). 

At the end of the 1990s, BASF commercialized Ecoflex F, a completely biodegradable statistical copolyester based on the fossil monomers 1,4-butanediol (BDO), adipic acid and terephthalic acid (see Fig. 3). Ecoflex F combines the good biodegradability known from aliphatic polyesters with the good mechanical properties of aromatic polyesters. 

BASF s Ecoflex is based on a co-polyester from terephthalic acid, adipic acid and 1,4-butanediol. The content of terephthalic acid in the polymer is approximately 42-45 mol% (with regard to the dicarboxylic monomers). Modification of the basic co-polyester lead to a flexible material, which is especially suitable for film applications. 

In the category of the polymers produced from bio-based monomers, the polyesters used to be more popular. Thus, historically, the main studied monomers were bi-functional molecules, such as lactic acid, an a-hydrmy acid able to self-condense for the production of polylactic acid (PLA) 1.3-propanediol (PDO) leading to Dupont s Sorona after condensation with terephthalic acid and succinic acid, foreseen to be a key bio-based building block and leading to polybutylene succinate (PBS) after condensation with 1,4-butanediol. 

A. eutrophus, P. oleovorans, and several other organisms are able to form and store polyesters from monomers other than 3-hydroxyalka-nes or alkanoic acids under appropriate conditions. P. oleovorans can use a much wider variety of substrates than microorganisms in the Alcaligenes family. In addition to homopolymers and copolymers, ter-polymers have been created in this manner. For example P. acidovo-rans fed with 1-4-butanediol and pentanol creates a terpolymer of 3 hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 4HB, and 3HV. It is also possible to incorporate potentially reactive substituents in the R side chain, which might be used for later cross-linking reactions or some other type of deriva-tization to modify polymer properties. 

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