Enzyme-Catalyzed Synthesis of Unsaturated Aliphatic Polyesters Based on Green Monomers from Renewable Resources

• Published in: Biomolecules
• Main Authors: Yi Jiang, Albert Woortman, Gert Van Ekenstein, Katja Loos
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2013
• Subjects: enzymatic polymerizations; CALB; unsaturated aliphatic polyesters; bio-based monomers; succinate; itaconate; 1,4-butanediol; renewable resources; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/biom3030461

Bio-based commercially available succinate, itaconate and 1,4-butanediol are enzymatically co-polymerized in solution via a two-stage method, using Candida antarctica Lipase B (CALB, in immobilized form as Novozyme® 435) as the biocatalyst. The chemical structures of the obtained products, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(butylene succinate-co-itaconate) (PBSI), are confirmed by 1H- and 13C-NMR. The effects of the reaction conditions on the CALB-catalyzed synthesis of PBSI are fully investigated, and the optimal polymerization conditions are obtained. With the established method, PBSI with tunable compositions and satisfying reaction yields is produced. The 1H-NMR results confirm that carbon-carbon double bonds are well preserved in PBSI. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicate that the amount of itaconate in the co-polyesters has no obvious effects on the glass-transition temperature and the thermal stability of PBS and PBSI, but has significant effects on the melting temperature.