From Glucose to Polymers: A Continuous Chemoenzymatic Process. Issue 43 (20th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maiti, Sampa; Manna, Saikat; Banahene, Nicholas; Pham, Lucynda; Liang, Zhijie; Wang, Jun; Xu, Yi; Bettinger, Reuben; Zientko, John; Esser‐Kahn, Aaron P.; Du, Wenjun
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 59:Issue 43(2020)
• Page Start: 18943
• Page End: 18947
• Publication Date: 2020-08-20
• Subjects: chemoenzymatic processes -- glucose -- poly(orthoester) -- polymer synthesis -- sustainable chemistry; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202006468
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Efforts to synthesize degradable polymers from renewable resources are deterred by technical and economic challenges; especially, the conversion of natural building blocks into polymerizable monomers is inefficient, requiring multistep synthesis and chromatographic purification. Herein we report a chemoenzymatic process to address these challenges. An enzymatic reaction system was designed that allows for regioselective functional group transformation, efficiently converting glucose into a polymerizable monomer in quantitative yield, thus removing the need for chromatographic purification. With this key success, we further designed a continuous, three‐step process, which enabled the synthesis of a sugar polymer, sugar poly(orthoester), directly from glucose in high yield (73 % from glucose). This work may provide a proof‐of‐concept in developing technically and economically viable approaches to address the many issues associated with current petroleum‐based polymers. Abstract : An enzymatic reaction system was designed that allows for regioselective functional group transformation, efficiently converting glucose into a polymerizable monomer without the need for chromatographic purification. A continuous, three‐step process was designed that enables the synthesis of a sugar polymer, sugar poly(orthoester), from glucose in high yield (73 % from glucose).