ARS | Publication request: Enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of polyamides and polypeptides

Submitted to: John Wiley Journal
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: July 26, 2010
Publication Date: November 29, 2010
Citation: Cheng, H.N. 2010. Enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of polyamides and polypeptides. In: Loos, K., editor. Biocatalysis in Polymer Chemistry. Weinheim, Germany:Wiley-VCH. p. 131-141.

Technical Abstract: Polyamides and polypeptides are important polymers in biological systems and industrial processes. Usually polyamides are produced via chemical synthesis, whereas polypeptides and proteins are isolated from living systems or produced from Merrifield synthesis. An area of active research is to use enzymes that are commercially available or isolated from appropriate organisms to catalyze the synthesis of polyamides and polypeptides. The literature in this area can be categorized into three groups: 1) catalysis with proteases, 2) catalysis with lipases, and 3) catalysis with other isolated enzymes. The enzymes in the third category are relatively few. Most of the papers deal with proteases; however, there are limitations to their use for high-molecular-weight polymers. Recently there is increasing use of lipases; the results have been promising and a number of high-molecular-weight polyamides and polypeptides have been reported.