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research article

Efficient Synthesis of Chemically Recyclable Polyamides via Substituent Effects‐Enabled Mechanistic Pathway

Ma, Youwei  
•
Zheng, Chihui  
•
Raphaël Bréas, Davide  
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September 14, 2025
Angewandte Chemie

Imination and amidation are two fundamental condensation reactions central to modern chemical synthesis, and devising energy‐efficient ways to trigger them is highly relevant in advancing low‐carbon manufacturing, with most approaches relying on the use of catalysts. Here, we revisit the dimethyl acetone‐1,3‐dicarboxylate (DADC) chemistry, and show that it can react with a broad range of small‐molecule and macromolecular amines at moderate temperatures (80‒120 °C) in the absence of any catalysts. This represents a significant reduction in processing temperatures compared to traditional polycondensation methods for polyamide synthesis, which often require temperatures exceeding 230 °C. Mechanistic and model studies reveal that the high reactivity of DADC toward amines arises from its synergistic substituent effects; Specifically, the two ester groups in the symmetric β‐position of DADC’s ketone facilitate initial imination via conjugation and electron‐withdrawing effects, generating a β‐enamino intermediate. This β‐enamine subsequently engages in intramolecular hydrogen bonding with one ester group, reducing steric hindrance on the remaining ester and thus promoting its amidation. Moreover, we demonstrate that the DADC‐synthesized polyamides are thermally reprocessable, and chemically recyclable under either acidic or basic conditions at mild temperatures, and the chemical recycling is possible both for the neat polymer and its mixture with other plastics.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1002/ange.202516735
Author(s)
Ma, Youwei  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Zheng, Chihui  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Raphaël Bréas, Davide  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Slor, Gadi  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Molleyres, Alain Phillipe Alexandre  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Liao, Qiyue  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Stellacci, Francesco  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2025-09-14

Publisher

Wiley

Published in
Angewandte Chemie
Article Number

e202516735

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SUNMIL  
Available on Infoscience
September 19, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/254083
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