Enzymatic ring opening polymerization of ω‐Pentadecalactone in different solvents in a variable‐volume view reactor

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of enzymes as catalyst in polyesters production enables the creation of new materials for use in biomedical applications. In this work, a polyester derived from ω‐pentadecalactone was synthesized. The polymer synthesis was performed using lipase Novozym 435 as catalyst and several solvents at 70 °C. The use of a closed variable volume reactor allowed the use of solvents with a boiling point lower than the reaction temperature, without affecting the ratio of solvent to monomer. Yields above 49 wt% and high molecular weights were obtained for all tested solvents. Dichloromethane (DCM) and chloroform were used as solvents for the evaluation of water content on enzyme and reaction time over the properties of final polymer. The amount of water on enzyme has a direct influence on reaction yields though higher molecular weights were obtained in reactions with lower water content. Yields of around 90 wt% were obtained in 6 h of reaction and molecular weights up to 42,300 and 51,900 g mol −1 were obtained in 2 h of reactions using DCM and chloroform as solvents. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 55 , 1219–1227