Simple and Rapid Mechanochemical Synthesis of Lactide and 3S-(Isobutyl)morpholine-2,5-dione-Based Random Copolymers Using DBU and Thiourea

There is a growing interest surrounding morpholine-2,5-dione-based materials due to their impressive biocompatibility as well as their capacity to break down by hydrolytic and enzymatic pathways. In this study, the ring-opening (co)polymerization of leucine-derived 3S-(isobutyl)morpholine-2,5-dione (MD) and lactide (LA) was performed via ball-milling using a catalytic system composed of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) and 3-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1-cyclohexylthiourea (TU). Once the homopolymerizations of MD and LA optimized and numerous parameters were studied, the mechanochemical ring-opening copolymerization of these monomers was explored. The feasibility of ring-opening copolymerizations in mechanochemical systems was demonstrated and a range of P(MD-co-LA) copolymers were produced with varying proportions of MD (23%, 48%, and 69%). Furthermore, the beneficial cocatalytic effects of TU with regards to ROP control were found to be operative within mechanochemical systems. Further parallels were observed between solution- and mechanochemical-based ROPs.