Poly-[(R)-3-hydroxyalkanoate] biopolymers, or
PHAs, are biocompatible and biodegradable polyesters that can be produced
by diverse microbial strains. PHA polymers have found widespread uses
in applications ranging from sustainable replacements of nonbiodegradable
bulk-commodity plastics to biomaterials. However, further expansion
into other markets and industries has generally been limited by the
inability to chemically modify these polymers. Recently, our lab engineered E. coli LSBJ, a microbial strain able to produce PHA copolymers
with controlled unit compositions from simple and accessible fatty
acid feedstocks. We envisioned meaningfully broadening the application
spectrum of these materials via production of chemically tractable
PHA biopolymers containing “click”-ready chemical functionalities.
With a myriad of applications in mind, in this study we demonstrate
the synthesis and biopolymerization of a panel of ω-azido fatty
acids and take the first exploratory steps toward demonstrating their
conjugation via a strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition
(SPAAC) reaction. The convenience of accessing these materials will
open the door to new applications for functionalized PHA polymers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.