Bridged Bicyclic Lactam Enables Chemically Recyclable Nylon

Nylon, a widely-used high-performance thermoplastic, boasts exceptional durability and resistance to various solvents and weak acids, making it indispensable across diverse applications. However, its nonbiodegradable nature has led to alarming environmental pollution in land and oceans. Chemical recycling to monomers (CRM) stands as a crucial strategy for establishing a circular plastic economy, but the CRM of nylon remains largely unexplored. Herein, we introduce the bridged bicyclic lactam 5-azabicyclo[2.2.1]octan-6-one (5/6-LM), evolved from delta-valerolactam and pyrrolidone, to solve the trade-off in depolymerizability and performance. Notably, 5/6-LM exhibits nearly 95 % conversion in mild polymerization conditions and efficient depolymerization catalyzed by lewis acids. This compound is synthetically accessible from commercially available chemicals in a single step at room temperature, demonstrating high efficiency and scalability up to 50 g in laboratory. Furthermore, the resulting polyamide displays remarkable attributes including high crystallinity and thermostability up to 283 degrees C, significantly broadening the scope of chemically recyclable nylons. We report the ROP of bridged bicyclic lactam 5-azabicyclo[2.2.1]octan-6-one (5/6-LM), yielding chemically recyclable nylon with high molecular weight (up to 75.7 kDa) and impressive thermostability (up to 283 degrees C). Notably, the 5/6-LM can be scaled to 50 g per batch in the lab, with the efficient recycling of the Pd/C catalyst and methanol over 8 cycles, highlighting the process's efficiency and promising scalability for future applications. image