TITLE:
Synthesis and Properties of Polyurethane Elastomers with Trehalose Units
AUTHORS:
Kazunori Kizuka, Shin-Ichi Inoue
KEYWORDS:
Polyaddition Reaction, Polyurethane Elastomer, Trehalose, Cross-Linker
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Organic Polymer Materials,
Vol.6 No.2,
April
14,
2016
ABSTRACT: In recent years, sugar-derived polymer materials have
been actively investigated. In research of polyurethane (PU), sugar has been used
as a raw material because it has properties similar to polyol. However, the elastic
property of the obtained PU is substantially lost. Hence, the introduction of a
sugar unit to PU while maintaining the elastic property remains a challenge in polymer
chemistry. Here, we report the synthesis of a polyurethane elastomer (PUE) with
a trehalose unit using raw materials such as an aromatic diisocyanate (4,4’-diphenylmethane
diisocyanate), polyols including a polyether polyol (polytetramethylene glycol),
two polyester polyols (polycaprolactone and polycarbonate diol), and trehalose.
Novel PUEs with trehalose units are synthesized by a one-shot method. Trehalose,
which has non-reducing properties, is used as sugar. The use of trehalose, which
has been scarcely applied to PUE, is essential to obtain the desired PUEs with sugar
units.