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I will discuss the effects of rotation on the confining and chiral properties of QCD using the Polyakov linear sigma model coupled to quarks. Within a homogeneous approximation, the phase structure is obtained at finite temperature, baryon density and angular frequency taking into account the causality constraint enforced by the spectral boundary conditions at a cylindrical surface. The model predicts a decrease in the critical temperatures of both the deconfinement and chiral transitions with increasing rotation, in contrast to first principles lattice QCD results. Furthermore, boundary effects lead to a splitting between the deconfinement and chiral transitions. Finally, I will discuss the Tolman-Ehrenfest law within this framework and its implications for rotating strongly interacting matter in cylindrical geometry.