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Organic Solvent‐Free Enzymatic Transformation of Poly( ϵ ‐caprolactone) into Repolymerizable Oligomers in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Author(s) -
Matsumura Shuichi,
Ebata Hiroki,
Kondo Reiko,
Toshima Kazunobu
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3927(20011101)22:16<1325::aid-marc1325>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - candida antarctica , supercritical carbon dioxide , lipase , supercritical fluid , caprolactone , organic chemistry , chemistry , solvent , materials science , polymer chemistry , chemical modification , carbon dioxide , biodegradable polymer , chemical engineering , polymer , enzyme , copolymer , engineering
The enzymatic transformation of poly( ϵ ‐caprolactone) (PCL) into repolymerizable oligomers in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) using an enzyme was carried out in order to establish a sustainable chemical recycling system for PCL, which is a typical biodegradable synthetic plastic. The enzymatic conversion of PCL beads having an M̄ n of 110 000 using Candida antarctica lipase (lipase CA) in scCO 2 containing small amounts of water quantitatively afforded CL oligomers at 40°C. The CL oligomers were readily repolymerized using the same enzyme to produce high‐molecular weight PCL.