Tailoring the degradation rate of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) was found to be easily accomplished by the polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone using a Sn(Oct)(2)/BF3 dual catalyst. The resulting PCL contained BF3, which acts as a hydrolytic degradation catalyst for PCL. The degradation rate of the polymer was controlled by the concentration of BF3 in the polymer matrix. At lower BF3 concentrations (<0.002 mol dm(-3)), the degradation rate was linearly proportional to the BF3 concentration. At higher BF3 concentrations, the degradation rate rapidly increased, significantly deviating from the linear relationship between degradation rate and BF3 concentration. The system was found to be very versatile, producing PCL with degradation rates ranging from a half-life of 0.9-46 weeks. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 110: 3733-3736, 2008