Enzymatically catalyzed furan-based copolyesters containing dimerized fatty acid derivative as a building block

An environmentally friendly method of creating sustainable alternatives to traditional aromatic-aliphatic polyesters is presented. A group of furan-based copolymers was synthesised via temperature-varied two-step polycondensation reaction in diphenyl ether using Candida antarctica lipase B (CAL-B) as biocatalyst where dimethyl 2,5-furandicarboxylate (DMFDCA), ,-aliphatic linear diols (,-ALD), and dimerized fatty acid diol (DLD) were used as the starting materials. Nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (1H and 13C NMR), Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were used to analyze the resulting copolymers. Additionally, crystallization behavior and thermal properties were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), digital holographic microscopy (DHM), and differential scanning microscopy (DSC). The results showed that the diol chain length of ,-ALD used in the synthesis had a significant effect on the material thermal properties and crystalline structure thus being an important guideline in design of entirely bio-based copolymers prepared by biocatalytic process.