Microbial fermentation system is designed to convert glucose to 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (DHPA), an aromatic-containing derivatives of lactic acid. By a methylation, DHPA was transformed to a diol monomer to synthesize bio-based polyesters with benzene rings in their backbone. The polycondensation of 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.
- Hieu Duc Nguyen
- Tatsuo Kaneko
- Takashi Ito
