Influence of method of preparation of solid, double-metal cyanide complexes on their catalytic activity for synthesis of hyperbranched polymers

•Highly active Fe–Zn double-metal cyanide (DMC) catalyst.•Synthesis of hyperbranched polymers catalysed by DMC.•Hyperbranched polymers with high degree of branching and controlled gelation.•Acidity, hydrophobicity and micro–mesoporosity of DMC influence the synthesis.

Catalytic activity of a series of Fe–Zn double-metal cyanide (DMC) complexes with varying structural and acidic properties has been investigated for the synthesis of hyperbranched polyesters (HPs) from glycerol and succinic acid/adipic acid. The DMC complexes were prepared using different complexing and co-complexing agents. Hydrophobicity of the surface, Lewis acidity and micro–mesoporous architecture are the critical features of DMC enabled control on gelation process in preparing HPs of high degree of branching. The micro–mesoporous architecture of DMC acts as a nano-reactor for reactant molecules to form primary condensation products which further polymerize yielding dendrimers. Hyperbranched polyesters of degree of branching as high as 90% could be achieved without gelation using DMC catalysts.

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