Abstract
A microbial fermentation system was designed to convert glucose to 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (DHPA), which is an aromatic-containing derivative of lactic acid. By methylation, DHPA was transformed to a diol monomer for synthesis of bio-based polyesters with benzene rings in their backbone. The polycondensation of the DHPA diol was performed with a series of aliphatic diacid chlorides to produce semi-aromatic polyesters with glass-transition temperatures <45 °C. By polycondensation with aromatic diacylchlorides, such as terephthaloyl chloride and isophthaloyl chloride, thermally stable DHPA-based polyesters with glass-transition temperatures as high as 130 °C were obtained.
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Acknowledgements
The research was financially supported by the Advanced Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program (ALCA, 5100270) of the Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), and was partially promoted by COI program (Construction of next-generation infrastructure using innovative materials - Realization of a safe and secure society that can coexist with the Earth for centuries-) supported by JST, Tokyo, Japan.
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Nguyen, H., Kaneko, T., Takaya, N. et al. Fermentation of aromatic lactate monomer and its polymerization to produce highly thermoresistant bioplastics. Polym J 48, 81–89 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2015.80
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2015.80
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