Enzymatic Preparation of Malate-Based Polycarboxylates Having Higher Molecular Weights by Copolymerization with Lactone

A strategy for increasing the molecular weight of malate-based polycarboxylates by the enzymatic polymerization of benzyl β-malolactonate (BML) with organic additives was studied. The lipase-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of BML was significantly promoted by the addition of a small amount of β-propiolactone (PL) to yield polycarboxylates having an Mw of 32000 without a significant decrease in the inherent carboxy content.