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Enzymatic Ring‐Opening Polymerization of Lactones: Traditional Approaches and Alternative Strategies
Author(s) -
Engel Jennifer,
Cordellier Alex,
Huang Lei,
Kara Selin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201900976
Subject(s) - polymer , polymerization , polyester , monomer , supercritical fluid , ionic liquid , aqueous medium , chemistry , organic chemistry , ring opening polymerization , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , materials science , aqueous solution , catalysis , engineering
Biodegradable polymers such as polylactides and other polylactones and their synthesis gain progressively importance. Enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (eROP) is the next step sustainable synthesis of polyesters, also suitable for biomedical applications due to high selectivity and lack of toxic agents. The possibility for applying diverse reaction media ranging from traditional bulk and organic media to greener alternatives such as aqueous media, ionic liquids, and supercritical fluids may allow designing alternative non‐conventional processes with less environmental footprint. Target success criteria such as high molecular weight and uniformity of polymers, and conversion of monomers have to be carefully evaluated in these diverse media. Herein we discuss the influence of different reaction media and conditions such as water content, temperature and time on the polymer sizes achieved in eROPs and various approaches to improve the molecular weight and uniformity of polymers.