Ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone initiated by diphenylzinc

In the present work the polymerization of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) using Ph2Zn as initiator is reported. The effects of reaction temperature, molar ratio of monomer/initiator and reaction time on the yield and the molecular weight are investigated. The temperature is varied between 20 and 120 °C and the molar ratio of monomer to initiator between 200 and 800 mol/mol. The results indicate that the Ph2Zn induces the polymerization of ε-CL to high conversion and produces polymer with high molecular weight at temperatures around 40–60 °C.