Aromatic components in copolyesters: Model structures help to understand biodegradability

Abstract

Abstract Copolyesters build of aliphatic and aromatic components have been shown to be degraded by microorganisms in a certain range of composition. While aliphatic polyesters of diol and dicarbonic acid often are hydrolyzed e.g. by lipases, pure aromatic polyesters like polyethylene terephthalate are not biodegradable. To understand the degradation mechanism of complex aliphatic/aromatic copolymers, we performed degradation experiments with different enzymatic systems and also especially screened highly active microorganisms. Several polymers and monomeric esters representing distinct structure elements within the polymer‐chain have been synthesized. These model structures were investigated in terms to understand the correlation of the stereo selectivity of the tested enzymes and the biodegradability of the polymer structure.