Non-Isocyanate Polyurethanes from Mixed Cyclic Carbonates: Carbonated Soybean Oil and Cyclic Carbonate Terminated CO₂-Based Poly(ether carbonate)

Non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) has received significant attention in sustainability research due to its potential to be synthesized without the inclusion of toxic isocyanate raw material and catalysts. In this study, CO₂ is further employed as an eco-friendly resource to afford poly(ether carbonate) polyols, which is then chemically transformed to introduce cyclic carbonate terminal groups (PECC). Separately, soybean oil with cyclic carbonate functional groups (CSBO) is prepared as an example of sustainable raw material from bio-renewable resources. NIPU is then prepared through the ring-opening reaction of multi-amines and the cyclic carbonate functional groups of PECC/CSBO mixtures. Characteristics of the resulting NIPUs including physical and thermal properties are investigated, demonstrating reasonable and tunable tensile properties. This study demonstrates the preparation of industrially important polyurethane materials from eco-friendly renewable resources, well exemplifying our current and increasing endeavors to realize sustainable polymers. This work was supported by Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (20208401010080, Development of Demonstration for Synthesis of High Value Chemical using Captured CO₂).