The role played by supercritical carbon dioxide used as a dispersant medium in the synthesis of polyurethane particles has been investigated. High-temperature-high-pressure in situ infrared spectroscopic measurements combined with ab initio calculations were performed to investigate the hydroxyl stretching vibrations of ethylene glycol (EG) and 1,4-butanediol (BD), two monomers commonly used in the field of step growth polymerization. Specific interactions between the diols and CO2 have been put in evidence. While the structural characteristics of EG and BD are very similarboth diols have a gauche conformation due to an internal H-bond between the two hydroxyl functionsthey behave differently in the presence of dense CO2. In the case of EG, this internal H-bond is broken, allowing the diol and CO2 to form a complex through the conjunction of a Lewis acid-Lewis base (LA-LB) interaction and a new H-bond. When BD complexes to CO2, this internal H-bond remains and is even reinforced indirectly by the LA-LB interaction occurring between the two moieties. In both cases, such a complex formation induces a polarization of the hydroxyl groups and consequently an increase of their nucleophilicity< Leer menos