This review focuses on the polyesters such as polylactide and polyhydroxyalkonoates, as well as polyamides produced from renewable resources, which are currently among the most promising (bio)degradable polymers. Synthetic pathways, favourable properties and utilisation (most important applications) of these attractive polymer families are outlined. Environmental impact and in particular (bio)degradation of aliphatic polyesters, polyamides and related copolymer structures are described in view of the potential applications in various fields.

The use of biobased plastics is of great importance for many applications. Blending thermoplastic polylactide (PLA) with polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) enables the formulation of a more mechanically powerful material and this enables tailored biodegradation properties. In this study we demonstrate the 3D printing of a PLA/PHA blend as a potential candidate for biocompatible material applications. The filament for 3D printing consisted of PHA, which contains predominantly 3-hydroxybutyrate units and a small amount of 3

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The identification of enzyme pairs with overlapping substrate specificity and enantiocomplementary transformations is a key challenge in biocatalysis. Enantio‐ and regiodivergent Baeyer–Villiger oxidations were successfully carried out by using a small library of recombinant Escherichia coli strains expressing monooxygenases of various microbial origin (see picture). The clustering of enzymes based on stereopreference is in good agreement with phylogenetic similarity.

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This paper presents ex-ante examination of advanced polymer materials to detect defects and define and minimize the potential failure of novel polymer products before they arise. The effect of build directions on the properties of dumbbell-shaped specimens obtained by three-dimensional printing from polylactide and polylactide/polyhydroxyalkanoate commercial filaments was investigated, as well as the hydrolytic degradation of these specimens at 50 ºC and 70 ºC. Taking into account previous studies, we have found further dependences of the properties of 3D printed species before and during abiotic degradation from the orientation of printing. The initial assumption that only the contact time with the 3D printer platform leads to an increase in the crystalline phase during printing turned out to be insufficient. Further investigations of individual parts of the dumbbell-shaped specimens showed that the size of the specimens' surface in contact with the platform also affected the structural ordering of the material.

Microbial Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of representative prochiral ketones with a cyclobutanone structural motif was investigated using a collection of eight monooxygenases of different bacterial origin. This platform of enzymes is able to perform stereoselective biotransformations on an array of structurally diverse substrates. With several ketone precursors, biooxidations yielded enantiocomplementary butyrolactones as key intermediates for the synthesis of natural products and bioactive compounds. The microbial Baeyer-Villiger oxidation allows a facile and rapid entry to several compound classes in a desymmetrization reaction upon de novo generation of chirality.