Acetalised Galactarate Polyesters: Interplay between Chemical Structure and Polymerisation Kinetics

In spite of the progress that has made so far in the recent years regarding the synthesis of bio-based polymers and in particular polyesters, only few references address the optimisation of these new reactions with respect to conversion and reaction time. Related to this aspect, we here describe the transesterification reaction of two different acetalised galactarate esters with a model aliphatic diol, 1,6-hexanediol. The kinetics of these two apparently similar reactions is compared, with a focus on the conversion while varying the concentration of a di-butyltin oxide catalyst (DBTO), respectively, the used N(2) flow-rate. During the first stage of polymerisation, the molecular weight of the end-products is more than doubled when using a 250 mL/min flow as opposed to an almost static N(2) pressure. Additionally, the resulted pre-polymers are subjected to further polycondensation and the comparison between the obtained polyesters is extended to their thermal, mechanical and dielectrical characterisation. The influence of the acetal groups on the stability of the polyesters in acidic conditions concludes the study.