Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse, UMR 7361 CNRS/Université de Haute Alsace, 15 Rue Jean Starcky, Mulhouse, Cedex, 68057, France.
School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2024 Sep;45(17):e2400260. doi: 10.1002/marc.202400260. Epub 2024 Jun 18.
As the demand for sustainable polymers increases, most research efforts have focused on polyesters, which can be bioderived and biodegradable. Yet analogous polythioesters, where one of the oxygen atoms has been replaced by a sulfur atom, remain a relatively untapped source of potential. The incorporation of sulfur allows the polymer to exhibit a wide range of favorable properties, such as thermal resistance, degradability, and high refractive index. Polythioester synthesis represents a frontier in research, holding the promise of paving the way for eco-friendly alternatives to conventional polyesters. Moreover, polythioester research can also open avenues to the development of sustainable and recyclable materials. In the last 25 years, many methods to synthesize polythioesters have been developed. However, to date no industrial synthesis of polythioesters has been developed due to challenges of costs, yields, and the toxicity of the by-products. This review will summarize the recent advances in polythioester synthesis, covering step-growth polymerization, ring-opening polymerization (ROP), and biosynthesis. Crucially, the benefits and challenges of the processes will be highlighted, paying particular attention to their sustainability, with the aim of encouraging further exploration and research into the fast-growing field of polythioesters.
随着对可持续聚合物的需求增加，大多数研究都集中在聚酯上，因为聚酯可以生物衍生和生物降解。然而，类似的聚硫酯，其中一个氧原子被硫原子取代，仍然是一个相对未开发的潜在来源。硫的掺入使聚合物具有广泛的有利性能，如耐热性、可降解性和高折射率。聚硫酯的合成代表了研究的前沿，有望为传统聚酯的环保替代品铺平道路。此外，聚硫酯的研究也为可持续和可回收材料的开发开辟了道路。在过去的 25 年中，已经开发出了许多合成聚硫酯的方法。然而，迄今为止，由于成本、产率和副产物毒性的挑战，还没有开发出工业规模的聚硫酯合成方法。这篇综述将总结聚硫酯合成的最新进展，涵盖逐步聚合、开环聚合（ROP）和生物合成。至关重要的是，将突出这些过程的优点和挑战，特别关注它们的可持续性，目的是鼓励对聚硫酯这一快速发展领域的进一步探索和研究。
