To improve the thermal and mechanical properties of poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), the terpolymers were synthesized by the terpolymerization Of CO2 with PO and a third monomer, N-(2,3-epoxylpropyl)carbazole (NEC) using supported zinc glutarate as catalyst. The catalytic activity, molecular weight, carbonate unit content, as well as the thermal and mechanical properties were investigated extensively. The experimental results showed that the catalytic activity, molecular weight, and carbonate unit content decreased with the incorporation of NEC. The introduction of NEC increased the glass transition temperature from 38.0 to 44.1 degrees C. Moreover, the thermal decomposition temperature (Tg-5%) of the terpolymer (278 degrees C) was much higher than that of pure PPC (238 degrees C). Accordingly, the mechanical properties proved to be enhanced greatly as evidenced by tensile tests due to the incorporation of bulky carbazole moieties. These improvements in thermal and mechanical properties are of very importance for the process of PPC. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.