Three Zn-MOFs have been synthesized via solvothermal and direct mixing methods separately

and then the Zn-MOFs were used as catalysts for the synthesis of poly(ethylene succinate)(PES) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) by the coupling reaction of ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl succinate (DMSu).The Zn-MOFs were characterized using a variety of different techniques

including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD)

scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

atomic emission spectrophotometry (AES) and others

PES was characterized by FTIR and 1H-NMR.The results showed that the Zn-MOF-L had the best catalytic activity.The MOF-5 and ZnO particles present in the MOF-L-300 contribute to the overall catalytic activity.The optimum conditions of the reaction were as follows:the reaction time

reaction temperature

n(EC)/n(DMSu) and the catalyst dosage were 4 h

215℃

2 and 1 wt% (N2 protection)

respectively

in the standard atmosphere pre-polymerization step.The reaction time

reaction pressure and reaction temperature were 2 h

300 Pa and 220℃

respectively

in the vacuum condensation step.Under these conditions

the yield of DMC was 65.08%

the intrinsic viscosity[] of PES was 0.572 dL/g

the Mn of PES was 21000 and the polydispersity index of PES was 2.21.