Overcoming Barriers in Polycarbonate Synthesis: A Streamlined Approach for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonate Monomers

Accessing cyclic carbonate monomers on a large scale is critical for the development of any new carbonate-based materials platform. The synthesis of carbonate monomers can be a challenging and tedious endeavor requiring multiple synthetic steps and purifications. To address this, we report a drastically improved process for the synthesis of carbonate monomers via a two-step route that avoids the use of hazardous triphosgene or chloroformate reagents. This process enables rapid access to a broad array of functional groups on the carbonate monomer and the monomers generated from the procedure can readily be polymerized via ring-opening polymerization.