Y. Linko, Zhuo Wang, J. Seppälä
Jun 1, 1995
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0
Influential Citations
56
Citations
Journal
Journal of Biotechnology
Abstract
Abstract Lipase has been widely used as a catalyst for synthesis in organic solvents, especially for esterifications and transesterifications. The present work was focused on the polyesterification reaction to synthesize poly(1,4-butyl sebacate) from sebacic acid or its derivatives. Three different substrates, sebacic acid, diethyl sebacate, and an activated ester bis (2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) sebacate were polymerized with 1,4-butanediol in the organic solvents veratrole or diphenyl ether using Mucor miehei lipase as the biocatalyst. The effects of the removal of water or alcohol formed, and of the type of solvent and substrate on the average molar mass of product were investigated. The results showed that sebacic acid could be directly polymerized with 1,4-butanediol in diphenyl ether, with a mass average molar mass of up to about 42000 g mol −1 ( DP = 167) when vacuum was used to remove water formed during the reaction. This appears to be the highest average molar mass reported by direct enzymic polyesterification of a diacid and diol.