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Enzyme route to polyurethanes
A low-temperature, enzyme-catalyzed process for synthesizing standard and novel polyester-based polyurethanes has been developed in England. The polymers, which have numerous applications in surface and textile coatings, foams, adhesives, and elastomers, are conventionally manufactured by the synthesis of hydroxy-terminated polyester resins and subsequent reaction of these with highly toxic diisocyanates derived from the even more toxic phosgene. The new method, reverses the conventional process and thereby avoids the use of these toxic precursors by creating the urethane first and then using the enzyme to synthesize the polymer. The two chemists first synthesized a bis(hydroxyethyl) hexamethylene carbamate from ethylene carbonate and hexamethylenediamine. Then, using butane-1,4-diol as solvent, they prepared the polymer by adding adipic acid to the solution and employing supported Candida antarctica lipase B as a catalyst. "The use of diurethane diols as safe polyester polyurethane precursors will enable a whole new range of important polymers, including water-soluble polymers, to be developed."
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