Synthesis and characterization of star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactones)s

A scries of star-shaped hydroxyl-terminated poly(e-caprolactone)s (SPCLs), with various number of arms and their lengths, was synthesized. SPCLs were synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of ?-caprolactonc (CL) carried out in the presence of multifunctional alcohol as an initiator and stannous octoate (SnOct2) catalyst. Variation in the number of arm was achieved by using alcohols having 3 (glyccrin), 4 (pcntaerithritol), and 6 (dipcntacrithritol) hydroxyl group. Various arm lengths were obtained by controlling monomer to hydroxyl group molar ratio ([CL]:[OH]). Expected chemical structure of SPCLs was confirmed by NMR and IR spectroscopy. Molar mass of polymers was calculated from 'H NMR and determined by means of SEC-MALLS analysis. Thermal properties of polyesters were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).