title: Synthesis and chemical recycling of novel poly(ester-urethane)s using an enzyme.
abstract: A series of enzymatically recyclable poly(ester-urethane)s consisting of a biodegradable diurethane moiety as a hard segment and an ester moiety as an enzymatically cleavable linkage was chemo-enzymatically prepared by two routes. The poly(ester-urethane) was prepared by a) the ring-opening polymerization of a cyclic ester-urethane monomer synthesized via the transesterification reaction of biodegradable diurethanediol and dicarboxylate ester using lipase and b) the direct polycondensation of a diurethanediol and a dicarboxylate ester. A significantly higher molecular-weight poly(ester-urethane) having the highest molecular weight (Mw) of 101,000 was produced by the ring-opening polymerization of the cyclic ester-urethane monomer when compared with that produced by the polycondensation of the dicarboxylate ester with diurethanediol. The poly(ester-urethane) was readily degraded by lipase into the corresponding cyclic oligomers; the oligomers were readily repolymerized by the ring-opening polymerization using lipase for chemical recycling.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Soeda
authors.forename: Kazunobu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toshima
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumura
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D008049:Lipase / Q000737:chemistry*; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D011140:Polyurethanes; D008049:Lipase