Self-Catalyzed Polycondensation of Glycolic Acid: Influence of Catalysts and Synthesis of High-Tm Cyclic Polyglycolides

This record contains all data, figures and schemes used for a publication (in the European Polymer Journal) about the self-catalyzed Polycondensation of glycolic acid. This kind of polymerisation of glycolic acid yields cyclic polyglycolides (cPGAs) with degrees of polymerization (DPs) up to 100. Surprisingly, cycles with DPs of 28, 32, and 36 are preferentially formed by transesterification in the solid state, indicating a trend toward monodisperse, extended-ring crystals. The addition of 4-toluene sulfonic acid can result in extremely high melting temperatures (up to 245 °C) and crystallinities (up to 85%). Like other cyclic polyesters, such as polylactides (PL) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), cPGAs form a high-Tm morphology under thermodynamic control.