Optical activity synthetic polymers

Chiellini, E., Solaro, R., Galli,G. and Ledwith, A. Optically Active Synthetic Polymers Containing Pendant Carbazolyl Groups. Vol. 62, pp. 143 — 170. 

With the notable exceptions of natural rubber and gutta-percha, almost all naturally occurring polymers are optically active. Historically, interest in optically active synthetic polymers has focused on modeling natural polymers, interpreting the conformational properties of macromolecules in solution, and investi-... 

Optically active synthetic polymers such as poly(trityl methacrylate) supported on silica gel [7,8] as well as poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) cross-linked in the presence of an optically active template [9] have found general use as chiral stationary phases for the optical resolution of various racemates by chromatography. A current area of investigation concerns the use of optically active polymers as reagents and catalysts for asymmetric synthesis [10,11,12]. 

PREPARATIVE TECHNIQUES The 100% R configuration isotactic polymers are prepared by bacterial fermentation. Production in transgenic plants promises an agrotechnological production method similar to that for starch. Optically active synthetic polymer can also be prepared either by starting with optically active /1-butyrolactone or by using a stereoselective catalyst with racemic / -butyrolactone. In vitro enzymatic synthesis using cloned synthase and (l )-/ -hydroxybutyryl-CoA monomer. 

Nakano T (2001) Optically active synthetic polymers as chiral stationary phases in HPLC. Journal of Chromatography A 906 205-225. 

In polymer chemistry, one of the most challenging tasks is to efficiently synthesize optically active synthetic polymers. The extraordinary enantioselectivity of lipases offers new perspectives towards these materials, and it is therefore not surprising that some research efforts have focused on the use of lipases to synthesize chiral polymers from racemic monomers. Methodologies like kinetic resolution and even chemoenzymatic dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) have already been exploited on the industrial scale to afford chiral intermediates for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry. Recently, these methodologies have been successfully applied in the synthesis of chiral polymers. 

Optically Active Synthetic Polymers Containing Pendant Carbazolyl Groups... 

It was for similar reasons that we first carried out investigations in the field of optically active synthetic polymers [2, 3]. 

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