One-step enzymatic synthesis of poly(p-dioxanone-co-butylene-co-succinate) copolyesters with well-defined structure and enhanced degradability

In this work, we present a mild one-step enzymatic-catalyzed copolymerization of diethyl succinate, 1,4-butanediol and p-dioxanone (PDO) to synthesize poly(p-dioxanone-co-butylene-co-succinate) copolyesters. Their chemical structure, triad distributions, and molecular weight of the copolyesters are characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and GPC. All copolyesters have narrow molecular weight polydispersity (1.3–1.5) and higher molecular weight (Mw) values (23700–33200 g mol−1), which are well controlled by varying the amount of PDO units from 9 to 30 mol%. NMR, DSC, and XRD results show that copolyesters are semicrystalline random copolyesters and thermal properties depended on their composition. Furthermore, the degradation rate of the poly(p-dioxanone-co-butylene-co-succinate) are enhanced compared to PBS.