MyrDOL, a Protected Dihydroxyfunctional Diene Monomer Derived from β-Myrcene:

Functional Polydienes from Renewable Resources via Anionic Polymerization

In pursuit of achieving more independence on petrochemical resources combined with increasing environmental awareness have accelerated the interest for bio-based polymer materials from renewable sources. The versatile bio-based class of terpenes motivated us to investigate renewable resources and bio-mass feedstocks in detail to introduce functionality into polydienes. Nevertheless, there is a lack of functional groups in typical polydienes such as polybutadiene or polyisoprene backbone with exception of their double bonds. Functionalized polydienes are of industrial relevance because of their improved interaction with functional fillers, resulting in a reinforcement in mechanical, electrical and thermal properties at low costs. Herein we report on the introduction, synthesis and characterization of a dihydroxyfunctional diene monomer into the field of anionic polymerization. The new diene monomer MyrDOL gives access to a large variety of polymer structures, gradient and tapered copolymer architectures, and is generally valuable for polydiene-based materials with increased polarity. In summary, MyrDOL is a building unit with intriguing potential for complex macromolecular architectures and materials.