Abstract Five-membered cyclolactones such as γ-butyllactone (γ-BL) were considered as non-polymerizable monomers for ring-opening polymerization by polymer chemistry and organic chemistry textbooks due to the low strain energy of their five-membered rings. In 2016, Hong and Chen showed the polymerizability of γ-BL from theory and experiment. After that, ring-opening polymerizations of γ-BL and its derivatives have been largely reported. This context systematically discussed the ring-opening polymerizations of γ-BL and its derivatives, which will help students understand the ring-opening reactivity of five-membered cyclolactones deeply and correctly.
JI Ming-Jun, GUO Li-Hua, HAN Jia-Yu, WU Meng-Qi. Discussion on the Ring-Opening Reactivity of Five-Membered Cyclolactones*[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Education, 2021, 42(10): 95-98.