Functional Polycarbonates from Carbon Dioxide and Tailored Epoxide Monomers: Degradable Materials and Their Application Potential

Abstract Aliphatic polycarbonates synthesized from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and epoxides are resource‐saving, highly biocompatible and biodegradable polymers. Since the discovery of the copolymerization of epoxides and CO 2 in 1969 by Inoue et al., this has become an important and useful technology for the large‐scale utilization of CO 2 in chemical synthesis, employing mainly propylene oxide, and cyclohexene oxide (CHO). Only in recent years, functionalized polycarbonates have become an emerging topic with a broad scope of potential applications. This review summarizes synthetic routes and properties of numerous functionalized polycarbonates synthesized from CO 2 and functional epoxide monomers. Implications for new materials and possible applications, for instance for pharmaceutical purposes and membranes are reviewed. Besides polycarbonates based on oxirane and CHO derivatives, particular emphasis is placed on the manifold synthetic approaches and postpolymerization modifications of glycidyl ether based polycarbonates. Not only functionalized linear polycarbonates are presented but also a variety of novel polycarbonate architectures, e.g., star and hyperbranched polymers.