A critical review: the ring-opening polymerization of cyclic esters provides access to an array of biodegradable, bioassimilable and renewable polymeric materials. Building these aliphatic polyester polymers into larger macromolecular frameworks provides further control over polymer characteristics ...

Initiation of the polymerization of vinyl acetate with azobis(isobutyronitrile) in the presence of a vanadium bis(iminopyridine) complex generates vanadium-capped dormant polymer chains with excellent correlation between molecular weight and conversion and good molecular weight distributions.

The synthesis of a family of polymer stars with arms of varied tacticities is discussed. The effect of polymer tacticity on the physical properties of these polymer stars is presented. Dipentaerythritol cores support six poly(lactic acid) (PLA) arms. Lewis acidic tin and aluminum catalysts control t...