Synthesis and characterization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) macromer of bacterial origin

A poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) macromer of bacterial origin, has been successfully synthesized by alcoholysis of bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) into prepolymer, then followed by selective maleation of the chain-end group. Thus, this macromer is provided with a double bond in addition to a hydroxyl at the two respective chain ends, which is useful for constructing newly structural molecules based on PHB segments to meet with special biomedical applications. The molecular weight distribution of the macromer is rather narrow and the chain length could be easily controlled by the alcoholysis time. An accurate characterization of the prepolymer and the macromer using 1H-NMR, gel permeation chromatography, UV and hydroxyl titration brought conclusive evidence of the success of this work.