Renewable castor oil and DL-limonene derived fully bio-based vinylogous urethane vitrimers

The utilization of bio-based precursors to prepare materials is highly desirable for the consideration of sustainable energy and materials. Vitrimers have received considerable attention because of their high mechanical performance that is comparable to conventional thermosets and advantageous reprocessability that allows to be recycled. However, most vitrimers are prepared from petroleum-based raw materials, and only a few examples employ bio-based raw materials, of which most utilize transesterification dynamic chemistry that often requires external catalyst that may leach or decompose during reprocessing. Herein, we report a catalyst-free vinylogous urethane vitrimer derived from renewable castor oil and DL-limonene. Prepared vitrimer shows excellent reprocessability and shape memory properties. We also envisaged that the strategy of preparing bio-based vitrimers reported here can be generalized to other bio-based raw materials that are rich in double bonds.