Curable precursors are prepared from chemical recycling of degradable polylactic acid (PLA) for development of aliphatic polyester thermoset materials. PLA resin (NatureWork 4042D) was de-polymerized via glycolysis under various conditions to produce PLA glycolysates (GlyPLAs), whose chain-ends mainly consist of hydroxyl groups with Mn M ̄ n ranging from 3,600 to 17,000 g/mol. Unsaturated double bonds (DB) were introduced into GlyPLA structures by end-capping with methacrylic anhydride to generate curable LA-precursors. The end-capping efficiency is strongly dependent on the molecular weight of GlyPLAs, where smaller-sized glycolysates produce LA-precursors with higher DB content. Curing behaviors of the precursors are thoroughly examined. DSC and FTIR results show that curing reactions at 140 C are completed after 2 h for all samples. Results on gel fraction indicate that LA-precursor with bar{M}-{n} M ̄ n ~ 3,600 g/mol is the most effective candidate for producing network products with high crosslink density. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.