Ring-opening polymerization of styrene oxide with rare earth coordination catalysts

Ring-opening polymerization of styrene oxide was successfully carried out by using new rare earth catalytic systems for the first time. It has been found that trinary rare earth coordination catalysts composed of neodymium 2-ethylhexyl phosphonate or calix[6]arene–neodymium, tri-isobutyl aluminum and 2-ethylhexyl phosphonate are effective catalysts for the ring-opening polymerization of styrene oxide. The dependence of polymerization on molar ratio of catalyst components (Al/Nd), solvent, polymerization temperature and time has been investigated. The polymers were characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and GPC.