A commercial calcium dimethoxide and an in-situ generated calcium methoxide
prepared from bis(tetrahydrofuran)calcium bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide] an
d methanol, were investigated as initiators for the ring-opening polymeriza
tion of epsilon -caprolactone and L-lactide. Commercial calcium dimethoxide
initiated rapid epsilon -caprolactone polymerization at 120 degreesC in bu
lk to give quantitatively a polymer with a polydispersity index around 1.3.
Significant racemization was observed for L-lactide polymerization. The In
-situ formed calcium methoxide promoted the solution polymerization of both
epsilon -caprolactone and L-lactide to high conversion at room temperature
over a short time period, yielding the corresponding polyesters with narro
w molecular weight distribution. NMR spectra showed that the poly(L-lactide
) isolated had a purely isotactic microstructure. The initiator efficiency
could be tuned by varying the molar ratio of methanol and bis(tetrahydrofur
an)calcium bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide].