Differentiating urethane and urea bond activation in polyurethane foam acidolysis

= 3.00 ± 0.01). Density functional theory calculations reveal that the sensitivity of urea rates to acid electronic structure arises from bond elongation and charge delocalization in the transition state that is minimized in urethane acidolysis. These findings on urea and urethane reactivity in PU acidolysis inform more efficient chemical recycling strategies and guide the design of recyclable PU foam materials.