The main focus of their efforts has been on ring-opening polymerization, a strategy dominated by metal oxide or metal hydroxide catalysts. They have shown that organic catalysts exhibit activities close to the most active metal-based catalysts, and provide easy access to all polymer architectures, even with difficult access by conventional approaches.

The paper outlines the development of several new families of highly active, environmentally benign organic catalysts for the conversion of renewable resources to products that exhibit cost/performance characteristics comparable to natural materials.

The paper also describes recycling or degradation strategies that would enable a "closed-loop" life cycle for materials that meet the needs of the marketplace while helping to minimize the environmental footprint left for future generations.