Polymers and surfactants on the basis of renewable resources

A new strategy for the preparation of different polymers and special surfac tants was developed. First, unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters obtained f rom plant oils were converted to terminally unsaturated esters and alpha -o lefins by metathesis with ethylene using heterogeneous rhenium or homogeneo us ruthenium catalysts. These esters were directly copolymerized with ethyl ene by an insertion-type palladium-catalyzed polymerization to functionaliz ed polyolefins. Polyesters were synthesized by metathetical dimerization of omega -unsaturated esters and subsequent polycondensation of the produced internally unsaturated dicarboxylic esters or by acidic transesterification with petrochemical diols and additional acyclic diene metathesis polymeriz ation. omega -epoxy fatty acid methyl esters, achieved by a new method of c hemo-enzymatic epoxidation, were converted into polyethers with comb-struct ure catalyzed by aluminoxanes on the one hand and into sugar surfactants by nucleophilic ring-opening with amino carbohydrates on the other hand. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.