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The lipase-catalyzed polycondensation of sebacic aid and 1,4-butanediol can be performed in a biphasic reaction system composed of an aqueous reaction phase and an organic extraction phase. The shift of the equilibrium to higher product yields can be realized by the integrated product removal (IPR). In this biphasic reaction system the product yield, molecular weight and polydispersity is depending on the partitioning of the substrates and the product between the phases. By the biphasic approach substrate inhibition as well as molecular weight and polydispersity can be controlled by medium engineering. The polyester concentration can be increased up to 98% by optimising the reaction conditions. The molecular weight is limited in the biphasic system due to its removal while the polydispersity is independent of the reaction conditions but connected to the biphasic approach. Additional to the conversion the partition coefficients have been investigated either experimentally and via calculation by the quantum chemical program COSMO-RS.

Review: 371 refs.

No abstract