Lipase catalyzed route to hyperbranched polymers with dendritic Trimethylolpropane units

POLY 674

Ankur Kulshrestha, NSF-I/UCRC, Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules, Polytechnic University, Six Metrotech Center, Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Wei Gao, wgao@poly.edu, NSF I/UCRC for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Polytechnic University, 6 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Hongyong Fu, hfu8@hotmail.com, Othmer Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences and Engineering, NSF I/UCRC for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules, Polytechnic University, Six Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201, NY, and Richard Gross, rgross@poly.edu, NSF I/UCRC Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences and Engineering, Polytechnic University, Six Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
This paper describes a simple highly versatile enzymatic route to prepare hyperbranched aliphatic polyesters with dendritic trimethylolpropane units. By systematically varying the trimethylolpropane content in the copolymers, products with DB values ranging from 15 to 67% were obtained. By using lipase catalysis instead of alternative chemical approaches, highly functional branched copolymers of substantial molecular weight were formed with no gel content. The polymerizations were conducted without taking special precautions to avoid gels such as kinetically freezing the reactions or conducting the polymerizations in dilute solution. This work describes paves the way for a wide-range of hyperbranched polymers that are synthesized under practical conditions.
 

Biocatalysis in Polymer Science
8:30 AM-11:45 AM, Thursday, 14 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Salon 12/13, Oral

Division of Polymer Chemistry

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006