One major remaining challenge in polymer chemistry is the development of efficient chemical recycling strategies to fully retrieve starting materials.Polyte-trahydrofuran(PTHF)is widely used,but its stable ether bonds make it difficult to chemically reuse after disposal.Here,we propose a"polymer A → polymer B"strategy for one-step quantitative upcycling of PTHF to polyesters.The route undergoes a cascade pro-cess:PTHF is depolymerized to give tetrahydrofuran(THF)that then alternately copolymerizes with cyclic anhydrides in situ,thereby pushing the chemical equilibrium of"PTHF ⇄ THF"to the right.The proto-col demonstrates facile features:the use of common and metal-free Brønsted/Lewis acid as catalyst,a favorable reaction temperature of 100 ℃,and no use of solvents.This method also accommodates 18 cyclic anhydrides to give a library of polyesters with alternating sequences,tunable thermal proper-ties,and high-fidelity carboxyl terminals.This is an unprecedented strategy for chemical recycling of waste polyether.
State Key Laboratory of Motor Vehicle Biofuel Technology,International Research Center for X Polymers,Department of Polymer Science and Engineering,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310027
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