Preliminary Study on Lipase-catalyzed Synthesis of Polyesters Containing L-Malic Acid Units

Terpolymer of 1, 8-octanediol, adipic acid, and L-malic acid was synthesized via a lipase-catalyzed direct polycondensation. The products were characterized by GPC and 1H NMR. The results indicated that the molecular weight of the prepared polymers decreased with increasing L-malic acid content in the monomer feed ratio, and that change in the L-malic acid content from 0 to 20 mol % did not remarkably influenced on the molecular weight distribution Mw /Mn of the prepared samples. The 1H NMR spectra of the obtained copolymer samples showed that hydroxyl groups of L-malic acid did not take part in the polymerization reaction.