Telechelic Poly(bisphenol A Carbonate) Synthesis By Glycolysis: A Response Surface Methodology Approach

Abstract

Poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (PC) is the second most produced engineering polymer in the world; therefore, there are several papers describing its recycling. However, only a few employ a multivariate approach together with a solid statistics basis for proving the trends and capabilities of their methodology. In this work, we report the progress in PC glycolysis, aimed at the production of telechelic hydroxyl-terminated oligomers (PC(OH)(2)), with controlled molar mass. A Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was employed to evaluate the influence of temperature, ethylene glycol (EG)/PC molar ratio, and polymer solution concentration on the PC(OH)(2) molar mass and on reaction yield. The EG/PC molar ratio is the most important factor affecting reaction products. PC(OH)(2) yield and bisphenol A residue amounts can be controlled through reaction conditions. BBD allowed the optimization and the scale-up of the reaction, which presented a good correlation between large and small scales.