Chemoenzymatic synthesis of functional amylosic materials

Abstract

In this article, a review of the chemoenzymatic synthesis of functional amylosic materials by means of α-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization is presented. The first topic of this review deals with the synthesis of amylose-grafted heteropolysaccharides composed of abundant polysaccharide main chains, such as chitin/chitosan, cellulose, alginate, xanthan gum, and carboxymethyl cellulose. The synthesis was achieved by combining the a-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization forming amylose with the appropriate chemical reaction (chemoenzymatic method). The second topic is the construction of amylosic supramolecular materials such as hydrogels and films by means of the vine-twining polymerization approach, which is a method for the formation of amylose-polymer inclusion complexes in the a-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed polymerization field. In these studies, the designed graft copolymeric guest compounds were first synthesized. Then, the α-glucan phosphorylase-catalyzed enzymatic polymerization was carried out in the presence of the graft copolymers to produce the amylosic supramolecular materials through the formation of inclusion complexes. © 2014 IUPAC & De Gruyter.