β‐Butyrolactone polymerization initiated with tetrabutylammonium carboxylates: A novel approach to biomimetic polyester synthesis

The anionic ring‐opening polymerizations of ( R , S )‐β‐butyrolactone and ( S )‐β‐butyrolactone initiated with tetrabutylammonium salts of carboxylic acids as initiators were investigated. Poly[( R , S )‐3‐hydroxybutyrate] and poly[( R )‐3‐hydroxybutyrate], with relatively high molecular weights (170,000 and 35,000, respectively) and low molecular weight distributions, were synthesized. Moreover, biomimetic poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)s with well‐defined microstructures and predictable iso‐dyad contents were obtained.