Synthesis of metal-free poly(1,4-dioxan-2-one) by enzyme-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization

✍ Scribed by Haruo Nishida; Mitsuhiro Yamashita; Masumi Nagashima; Takeshi Endo; Yutaka Tokiwa

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 140 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-624X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0518(20000501)38:9<1560::aid-pola20>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

To avoid the harmful effects of metallic residues in poly(1,4-dioxan-2-one) (PPDO) for medical applications, the enzymatic polymerization of 1,4-dioxan-2-one (PDO) was carried out at 60 °C for 15 h with 5 wt % immobilized lipase CA. The lipase CA, derived from Candida antarctica, exhibited especially high catalytic activity. The highest weight-average molecular weight (M w ϭ 41,000) was obtained. The PDO polymerization by the lipase CA occurred because of effective enzyme catalysis. The water component appeared to act not only as a substrate of the initiation process but also as a chain cleavage agent. A slight amount of water enhanced the polymerization, but excess water depressed the polymerization. PPDO prepared by enzyme-catalyzed polymerization is a metal-free polyester useful for medical applications.