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Updated: Oct 3, 2025

Depolymerizable Olefinic Polymers Based on Fused-Ring Cyclooctene Monomers
Published on: December 16, 2022
Lipases in polymer chemistry
Bahar Yeniad1, Hemantkumar Naik, Andreas Heise
1Polymer Chemistry Group, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Lipases are highly active in the polymerization of a range of monomers. Both ring-opening polymerization of cyclic monomers such as lactones and carbonates as well as polycondensation reactions have been investigated in great detail. Moreover, in combination with other (chemical) polymerization techniques, lipase-catalyzed polymerization has been employed to synthesize a variety of polymer materials. Major advantages of enzymatic catalysts are the often-observed excellent regio-, chemo- and enantioselectivity that allows for the direct preparation of functional materials. In particular, the application of techniques such as Dynamic Kinetic Resolution (DKR) in the lipase-catalyzed polymerization of racemic monomers is a new development in enzymatic polymerization. This paper reviews selected examples of the application of lipases in polymer chemistry covering the synthesis of linear polymers, chemoenzymatic polymerization and applications of enantioselective techniques for the synthesis and modification of polymers.
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