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Enzymatic Synthesis and Chemical Recycling of Polythiocaprolactone
Author(s) -
Shimokawa Keisuke,
Kato Makoto,
Matsumura Shuichi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201000488
Subject(s) - oligomer , lipase , chemistry , copolymer , caprolactone , toluene , polymer chemistry , enzyme , polymer , organic chemistry
High‐molecular‐weight polythiocaprolactone (PTCL) was prepared in a green process via lipase‐catalyzed ROP of a cyclic 6‐mercaptohexanoic acid (6MH) oligomer. PTCL was readily depolymerized by lipase to cyclic 6MH in dilute toluene solution, which was then readily repolymerized by the same lipase to produce PTCL with the same $\overline {M} _{{\rm w}} $ as the initial PTCL in a chemical recycling process. The T m of PTCL was higher than that of the corresponding PCL. A P(TCL ‐co‐ CL) copolymer with 60 mol‐% TCL (6MH) units showed a higher T m as the PCL homopolymer. Similar apparent K m values were obtained for the cyclic 6MH oligomers and caprolactone oligomers, however, the V max of cyclic 6MH oligomers was significantly lower than that of the corresponding caprolactone oligomers.