Lipase‐Catalyzed transformation of Poly(trimethylene carbonate) into Cyclic Monomer,Trimethylene Carbonate: A New Strategy for Sustainable Polymer Recycling Using an Enzyme

The enzymatic degradation and polymerization using an enzyme were carried out with respect to the establishment of a sustainable chemical recycling system for poly(trimethylene carbonate) P(TMC)] which is a potentially biodegradable synthetic plastic. The enzymatic transformation of P(TMC)s having an M_n of 3000~48000 using Candida antarctica lipase (lipase CA) in acetonitrile at 70 °C afforded the corresponding cyclic monomer, trimethylene carbonate (TMC: 1,3‐dioxan‐2‐one), in a yield of up to 80%. Thus obtained TMC readily polymerized again using both fresh lipase CA and recovered lipase CA.