Renewable alternating aliphatic-aromatic poly(ester-urethane)s prepared from ferulic acid and bio-based diols

A new class of eight partially renewable alternating aliphatic-aromatic poly(ester-urethane)s (PEUs) is obtained through the polyaddition of four renewable bisphenols derived from ferulic acid and bio-based diols on two commercially available diisocyanates. The structures and molecular weights of these PEUs are characterized by H-1 and C-13s NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The PEUS are further studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). All these thermoplastic PEUs are transparent and rigid at room temperature, with M-n ranging from 4 to 10 kDa, and relatively narrow dispersities (1.7-3.5), prove to be stable up to more than 180 degrees C (T-d 5%), with Tg varying from 28 to 128 degrees C depending on their structure. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.