Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.137, No.39, 12506-12509, 2015
From meso-Lactide to Isotactic Polylactide: Epimerization by B/N Lewis Pairs and Kinetic Resolution by Organic Catalysts
B/N Lewis pairs have been discovered to catalyze rapid epimerization of meso-lactide (LA) or LA diastereomers quantitatively into rac-LA. The obtained rac-LA is kinetically polymerized into poly(L-lactide) and optically resolved n-LA, with a high stereoselectivity k(L)/k(D) of 53 and an ee of 91% at 50.6% monomer conversion, by newly designed bifunctional chiral catalyst 4 that incorporates three key elements (beta-isocupreidine core, thiourea functionality, and chiral BINAM) into a single organic molecule. The epimerization and enantioselective polymerization can be coupled into a one-pot process for transforming mesa-LA directly into poly(L-lactide) and D-LA.