It is a colourless solid that upon heating or catalytic ring-opening[1] converts to poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC).

Such polymers are called aliphatic polycarbonates and are of interest for potential biomedical applications.

An isomeric derivative is propylene carbonate, a colourless liquid that does not spontaneously polymerize.

This compound may be prepared from 1,3-propanediol and ethyl chloroformate (a phosgene substitute), or from oxetane and carbon dioxide with an appropriate catalyst:[2] This cyclic carbonate undergoes ring-opening polymerization to give poly(trimethylene carbonate), abbreviated PTMC.

[3] A block copolymer of glycolic acid and trimethylene carbonate (TMC) is the material of the Maxon suture, a monofilament resorbable suture which was introduced in the mid-1980s.