Polymerization of rac-lactide using schiff base aluminum catalysts: Structure, activity, and stereoselectivity

A series of aluminum ethyls and isopropoxides based upon N,N,O,O-tetradentate Schiff base ligand framework have been prepared. X-ray diffraction analysis and H-1 NMR confirmed that these Schiff base aluminum ethyls and isopropoxides were all monomeric species with a five-coordinated central aluminum in their solid structures. Compared to the aluminum ethyls which all retain their monomeric structure in the solution, the dinucleating phenomenons of aluminum isopropoxides with less steric hindered substituents in the solution have also been observed. The activities and stereoselectivities of these complexes toward the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide have been investigated. Polymerization experiments indicated that (SB-2d)(AlOPr)-Pr-i [(SB-2d) = 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propylenebis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylideneiminato)] exhibited the highest stereoselectivity and (SB-3b)(AlOPr)-Pr-i [(SB-3b) = 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propylenebis(3,5-dichlorinesalicylideneiminato)] possessed the highest activity among these aluminum isopropoxides. The substituents and the mode of the bridging part between the two nitrogen atoms both exerted significant influences upon the progress of the polymerizations, influencing either the tacticity of isolated polymers or the rate of polymerization.