Potassium N-arylbenzimidates as readily accessible and benign (pre)catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of ε-CL and L-LA

Potassium benzimidates have been shown to efficiently initiate the ROP of ε-CL and L-LA to form linear polyesters capped with methoxy groups. By contrast, in the presence of BnOH, ROP of ε-CL afforded PCL capped with a BnO group as the major component, while ROP of L-LA gave CH3O-capped PLLA as the major species.