Coordination complexes as catalysts for the production of polyesters

随着塑料使用量的增加，这些材料逃离处置/回收途径并在环境中积累的机会也增加了。大多数塑料，特别是聚烯烃，在化学上是非常惰性的，因此在环境中不会降解。这可能导致从宏观尺度(野生动物的纠缠)到微观尺度(有机污染物在微塑料上的吸收)的生态问题。标准聚烯烃塑料的替代品是可生物降解的材料，如聚酯，在适当的条件下可以分解成二氧化碳和水。然而，目前生产聚酯的知识落后于聚烯烃的现有技术。为了使这些材料不仅在生态上可行，而且在经济上可行，并使它们具有与聚烯烃相同的特性，我们必须找到控制内酯聚合成聚酯的方法。*本研究计划的目标是开发用于生产聚酯的改进催化剂，以增加这些可生物降解材料与传统塑料竞争的机会。

The increased used of plastics is accompanied by an increased chance for these materials to escape the disposal/recycle path and to accumulate in the environment. Most plastics, in particular polyolefins, are chemically very inert and thus do not degrade in the environment. This can lead to ecological problems from the macroscopic scale (entanglement of wildlife) to the microscopic scale (absorption of organic contaminants on microplastics). An alternative to standard polyolefin plastics are biodegradable materials, such as polyesters, that can decompose to carbon dioxide and water under the right conditions. However, current knowledge on producing polyesters lags behind the existing know-how for polyolefins. To make these materials not only ecologically, but also economically feasible and to generate them with the same range of characteristics found in polyolefins, we have to find ways to control the polymerization of lactones to polyesters.***This research program targets the development of improved catalysts for the production of polyesters to increase the chance of these biodegradable materials to compete with traditional plastics.********