{
  "abstract": "Methanolysis is a promising strategy for chemical recycling of ester-containing plastics, but current approaches rely on homogeneous acids/bases or heterogeneous catalysts, which suffer from corrosion and deactivation. Here we report that common neutral salts can promote plastic methanolysis via an ion-pair cooperative mechanism. In situ spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and density functional theory calculations reveal that Na+ coordinates with carbonyl oxygen, enhancing carbonyl electrophilicity, while Cl− interacts with methanol through O–H⋯Cl− hydrogen bonding, disrupting its hydrogen-bond network and activating the nucleophile. Extending this concept to various neutral salts establishes a clear structure–activity relationship governed by cation-mediated substrate activation and anion-mediated methanol activation. Notably, naturally occurring salts also show comparable activity, and the strategy is applicable to representative ester-containing plastics including polycarbonate (PC), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These results identify ion-pair cooperativity as a possible mechanism for polymer depolymerization and provide a feasible strategy for plastic chemical recycling.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institute of New Energy and Low-Carbon Technology, Sichuan University Chengdu 610207 China",
    "College of Materials and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology Chengdu 610059 China",
    "School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University Chengdu 610065 China",
    "School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an 710072 China",
    "State Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymer Materials (Sichuan University), Sichuan University Chengdu 610065 China",
    "College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310027 China",
    "Research Institute of Natural Gas Technology, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gasfield Company Chengdu 610299 China",
    "School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yushuang Huang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Junjian Xie",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9198-6797"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Jiawei Xie",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-5410-9193"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yisong Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Yuan Lei",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-1331-3100"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Tinghao Jia"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Jinjin Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Chang-An Zhou",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-1245-0929"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Chao Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lei Song",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1918-7309"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Kui Ma",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5667-4755"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Hairong Yue",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9558-0516"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Ji-Jun Zou",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9126-1251"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dzyyvjfj06jj6.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6sc04874a",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13591211/",
  "id": "dzyyvjfj06jj6",
  "issns": [
    "2041-6520",
    "2041-6539"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc04874a",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-3.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 3.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Chemistry"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2502|biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213242661",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13591211",
  "pmid": "42769764",
  "published": "2026-09-15",
  "publisher": "Royal Society of Chemistry",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dzyyvjfj06jj6.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:23:30Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13591211",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6sc04874a"
    }
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2502|biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Ion-pair cooperativity in common neutral salts promotes methanolysis of ester-containing plastics",
  "title_text": "Ion-pair cooperativity in common neutral salts promotes methanolysis of ester-containing plastics",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:20:58Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dzyyvjfj06jj6",
  "venue": "Chemical Science",
  "versions": []
}