Poly(3-Hydroxypropionate): a Promising Alternative to Fossil Fuel-Based Materials

Abstract

bPolyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are storage compounds synthesized by numerous microorganisms and have attracted the interest of industry since they are biobased and biodegradable alternatives to fossil fuel-derived plastics. Among PHAs, poly(3-hydroxypropionate) [poly(3HP)] has outstanding material characteristics and exhibits a large variety of applications. As it is not brittle like, e.g., the best-studied PHA, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [poly(3HB)], it can be used as a plasticizer in blends to improve their properties. Furthermore, 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) is considered likely to become one of the new industrial building blocks, and it can be obtained from poly(3HP) by simple hydrolysis. Unfortunately, no natural organism is known to accumulate poly(3HP) so far. Thus, several efforts have been made to engineer genetically modified organisms capable of synthesizing the homopolymer or copolymers containing 3HP. In this review, the achievements made so far in efforts to obtain biomass which has accumulated poly(3HP) or 3HP-containing copolymers, as well as the properties of these polyesters and their applications, are compiled and evaluated.

Recent Advances in the Catalytic Production of Platform Chemicals from Holocellulosic Biomass

“…It can be utilized as a monomer for (co)‐polymerization, as a starting material for the synthesis of other commercially useful chemicals, such as 1,3‐propanediol (PDO), methyl acrylate, acrylic acid, propiolactone and acrylamide. Moreover, the self‐condensing repeating unit of 3‐HPA forms a polymer, poly (3‐hydroxypropionic acid), which shows promising properties as a potential substitute of traditional petroleum‐based polymers due to its enzymatic and hydrolytic deconstruction, its excellent glass transition temperature (−20 °C), very good mechanical properties and high melting point (77 °C) …”

“…Moreover, the self-condensing repeating unit of 3-HPA forms a polymer, poly (3-hydroxypropionic acid), which shows promising properties as a potential substitute of traditional petroleumbased polymers due to its enzymatic and hydrolytic deconstruction, its excellent glass transition temperature (À 20°C), very good mechanical properties and high melting point (77°C). [244]…”

Biosynthesis of poly(3-hydroxypropionate) from glycerol using engineeredKlebsiella pneumoniaestrain without vitamin B12

“…1 Thus far, P3HP cannot be produced by any native bacterial strains. When some structurally-related carbon sources like 3HP, a,v-alkanediols, acrylate, g-butyrolactone or 1,3-propanediol were added, PHAs containing the 3HP monomers could be produced by some microbes like Alcaligenes eutrophus, 7 Alcaligenes latus, 8 Ralstonia eutropha, 9 Methylobacterium, 10 and engineered Escherichia coli. 11 However, the addition of these expensive precursors increased the production cost and restricted the further development.…”

Polyhydroxyalkanoates

“…These polymers can be considered suitable alternatives to fossil fuel-derived plastics, but some problems associated with their industrial production must be contemplated, such as the high production cost of PHAs and the lack of sustainability of the fermentation process. This subject has been addressed by different strategies that rely on the functionalization of the polymers to increase their value (Andreeben, Taylor, & Steinb€ uchel, 2014;Dinjaski & Prieto, 2015;Li & Loh, 2015;Tortajada, Ferreira da Silva, & Prieto, 2013), the optimization of producing strains (Brigham, Zhila, Shishatskaya, Volova, & Sinskey, 2012;Leong, Show, Ooi, Ling, & Lan, 2014;Wang, Yin, & Chen, 2014), the use of industrial residues as substrates, or the development of energysaving processes (G omez et al, 2012;Nikodinovic-Runic et al, 2013).…”