Enzyme-Mediated Ring-Opening Polymerization

Andreas Heise, Christopher j. Duxbury, and Anja R. A. Palmans 

Based on the specific reaction that they catalyze, enzymes have been classified into six groups, three of which have been reported to catalyze or induce polymerization in vitro, namely oxidoreductases, transferases and hydrolases. The latter class includes hpases, the natural role of which is the hydrolysis of fatty acid esters at the cell s water-Upid interface. In organic media, hpases can efficiently catalyze ester bond formation, and so have been used extensively in investigations of the in vitro synthesis of polyester by polycondensation or ring-opening polymerization (ROP), without the need for any cocatalyst. One enzyme that deserves special attention when discussing enzymatic ROP is Candida antarctica Lipase B (CALB). 

Handbook of Ring-Opening Polymerization. Edited by P. Dubois, 0. Coulembier, and ). -M. Raquez Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Veriag GmbH. Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-31953  

In this chapter we provide a brief description of Upase-catalyzed ROP, where we use the word enzyme to refer only to lipase. First, we will discuss the specific characteristics of enzymatic ROP, indudtng the mechanistic and kinetic aspects of the reaction. We will then introduce the most important classes of cyclic monomers in enzymatic ROP, after which we will review the use of enzymatic ROP in the synthesis of more complex polymer architectures. For further information, the reader is referred to recent reviews on enzymatic polymerization [3-7]. 

Ionic Hquids represent a popular alternahve green solvent to SCFs. Very few reports have been made of enzymatic ROP being ahempted in ionic liquids. 

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