Chemoenzymatic synthesis enzymatic ring-opening

Heise, Palmans, de Geus, Villarroya and their collaborators (17,41,42) have been working on a chemoenzymatic cascade synthesis to prepare block copolymers. They combine enzymatic ring-opening polymerization (eROP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The synthesis of block copolymers was successful in two consecutive steps, i.e., eROP followed by ATRP. In the one-pot approach, block copolymers could be obtained by sequential addition of the ATRP catalyst, but side reactions were observed when all components were present from at the onset of reactions. A successful one-pot synthesis was achieved by conducting the reaction in supercritical carbon dioxide. 

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