A study of synthesis and properties of poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate/diethylene glycol copolymers

Abstract

This study investigates synthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)/diethylene glycol copolymers (P3HB/DEG) by Cupriavidus eutrophus B-10646 cells as related to DEG concentration in the medium and the time when it is added to the culture of cells synthesizing P3HB. The study determines the limits of physiological effect of DEG on C. eutrophus cells, showing that at DEG concentrations above 30 g/L, it inhibits cell growth, decreasing cell concentration and total P3HB/DEG yield and inducing an increase in the degree of saturation of fatty acids in lipids of cell cytoplasmic membrane. A series of copolymers containing different molar fractions of DEG (between 0.13 and 3.0 mol%) have been synthesized and their physicochemical, physical/mechanical, and biological properties have been investigated as related to the chemical composition and proportions of DEG monomers of the polymers. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1017-1028, 2016.

Properties of PHA bi-, ter-, and quarter-polymers containing 4-hydroxybutyrate monomer units

“…The authors of this study have assembled a collection of bacterial strains capable of synthesizing high yields of PHAs on various substrates and studied PHA synthesis under different conditions of carbon nutrition. Based on this, they managed to synthesize not only poly-3-hydroxybutyrate but also copolymers of various compositions: 3HB/diethylene glycol [P(3HB/DEG)] copolymer [18], bipolymers of 3HB with 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) and 3hydroxy-4-methylvalerate [19], and a series of PHA ter-and quarterpolymers composed of various short-and medium-chain-length monomers in different proportions, including ones containing various concentrations of 4-hydroxybutyrate [20][21][22][23].…”