2022 Volume 58 Issue 7 Pages 259-265
This article describes the latest advances in cationic polymerization of vinyl monomers, focusing on SDGsconscious catalyst development. Many cationic polymerization reactions are catalyzed by metal Lewis acids, which can be toxic and/or have a negative impact on the environment. In addition, some of the metals that consist of catalysts for cationic polymerization and other chemical reaction are depletable. Thus, a recent focus of cationic polymerization is the development of metal-free catalyst systems, including polymerization via a RAFT mechanism without a metal-containing catalyst; photoinitiated polymerization systems; and polymerization reactions using organocatalysts. For the development new material without excess exploitation of fossil resources, other important topics of attention would be stereoselective or stereospecific polymerization of commonly used monomers that would provide higher performance polymers, and polymer synthesis from bio-based monomers.
