Chemical Upcycling of Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) Plastic Catalyzed by ZnX2 via an Amino-Alcoholysis Strategy

Chemical recycling of plastic wastes not only provides a practical pathway to solve the end-of-use issue of polymer materials but also offers a possible closed-loop approach for mainly fossil-based materials, which has drawn tremendous attention from academia and industry. Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (BPA-PC), a typical shock-resistant thermoplastic material, which has been used increasingly all over the world, should receive extensive attention for its potential environmental harm, as well as its chemical recycling route. For BPA-PC, traditional disposal methods, such as landfills, are unable to prevent the spread of BPA as a possible xenoestrogen and may cause secondary pollution to air and soil. Herein, an "amino-alcoholysis" strategy has been proposed, which upcycles BPA-PC plastic waste to BPA monomers and high value-added chiral 2-oxazolidinone chemicals via ZnX2-catalyzed depolymerization by chiral amino alcohols under mild conditions. Moreover, sequential depolymerization of BPA-PC/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) mixed plastics was also achieved with high yields and selectivities. This strategy demonstrates a method for the diversified transformation of BPA-PC plastic waste to BPA and high value-added chiral chemicals.