Green polymer chemistry using nature's catalysts, enzymes

The use of enzymes as catalysts for organic synthesis has become an increasingly attractive alternative to conventional chemical catalysis. Enzymes offer several advantages including high selectivity, ability to operate under mild conditions, catalyst recyclability, and biocompatibility. Although there are many examples in the literature involving enzymes for the synthesis of polymers, our search showed that very little had been done in the area of polymer modification. In this article, we will discuss enzyme catalysis in general and highlight our recent results concerning precision polymer functionalization using enzymatic catalysis—“green polymer chemistry.” © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2959–2976, 2009