Polysaccharides enzymatic polymerization

Enzymes are generally classified into six groups. Table 1 shows typical polymers produced with catalysis by respective enzymes. The target macromolecules for the enzymatic polymerization have been polysaccharides, poly(amino acid)s, polyesters, polycarbonates, phenolic polymers, poly(aniline)s, vinyl polymers, etc. In the standpoint of potential industrial applications, this chapter deals with recent topics on enzymatic synthesis of polyesters and phenolic polymers by using enzymes as catalyst. 

Plants and animals synthesize a number of polymers (e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, nucleic acids) by reactions that almost always require a catalyst. The catalysts present in living systems are usually proteins and are called enzymes. Reactions catalyzed by enzymes are called enzymatic reactions, polymerizations catalyzed by enzymes are enzymatic polymerizations. Humans benefit from naturally occurring polymers in many ways. Our plant and animal foodstuffs consist of these polymers as well as nonpolymeric materials (e.g., sugar, vitamins, minerals). We use the polysaccharide cellulose (wood) to build homes and other structures and to produce paper. 

Abstract Transferases are enzymes that catalyze reactions in which a group is transferred from one compound to another. This makes these enzymes ideal catalysts for polymerization reactions. In nature, transferases are responsible for the synthesis of many important natural macromolecules. In synthetic polymer chemistry, various transferases are used to synthesize polymers in vitro. This chapter reviews some of these approaches, such as the enzymatic polymerization of polyesters, polysaccharides, and polyisoprene. 

Keywords Biocatalysis Enzymatic polymerization Polyester Polyisoprene Polysaccharide Transferase... 

Considering the macromolecules discussed in this chapter (polyester, polysaccharides, and rubber) there can be no doubt that new approaches to synthesize them via enzymatic polymerization will have a huge impact. 

Chitin is the most abundant biomacromolecule in the animal field, which is found normally in invertebrates as a structural component. This important polysaccharide was synthesized for the first time by the enzymatic polymerization using chitinase and a chitobiose oxazoline derivative (Scheme 14).131 The latter activated monomer has a distorted structure with an a configuration at Cl, which resembles a transition-state structure of substrate chitin at the active site during a hydrolysis process (Scheme 15).3b 131132 The ring-opening polyaddition of the chitobiose oxazoline derivative was exclusively promoted by chitinase at pH 10.6, where the hydrolytic activity of chitinase was very much lowered. 

Enzymatic polymerization and oligomerization can be used to make polyesters, polypeptides, polysaccharides, polymers from phenols, polymers from anilines, and many others. This approach could lead to fewer side reactions, higher regio- and stereoselectivity, under milder conditions. Oligomeric polyesters can be prepared from lactones. Caprolactone can be polymerized in bulk with lipases (9.43) to polymers with molecular weights of 7000.305... 

Enzymatic Polymerizations of Polysaccharides Table 9.1 Polysaccharide processing industries. 

Some excellent reviews have appeared extensively covering the enzymatic polymerization of polysaccharides using glycoside hydrolases [233-245]. Two examples of this field are highlighted below for more details please refer to these reviews. 

The examples reviewed in this chapter prove that enzymatic polymerizations using glycosyltransferases and glycosidases are powerful techniques for synthesizing various well-defined polysaccharides ranging from natural saccharides such as cellulose, amylose, amylopectin etc. to non-natural hybrid polysaccharides. 

In Chapters 15 and 16 the modification and degradation of respectively synthetic (e.g. PET, polyamides) and natural polymers (e.g. polysaccharides) are reviewed. It becomes obvious that biocatalytic modifications can offer advantages over chemical modifications therefore building a bridge between traditional polymerization techniques and enzymatic polymerizations. 

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