ENZYME MEDIATED OXIDATIVE POLYMERIZATION OF 4-HYDROXYBENZYL ALCOHOL FOR OPTICAL APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT

Poly(4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) was synthesized enzymatically starting with 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizing agent in methanol and 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) mixture (1:1, v/v) and at room temperature (25°C). Polymerization reaction was catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The polymer formed was characterized by UV-Vis, FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic studies, which revealed that HRP catalyzed polymer is composed of a mixture of phenylene and oxyphenylene units and alcoholic hydroxyl groups are not participating in the polymerization. The resulting poly(4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol) contains pendant primary hydroxyl groups which provide an opportunity to further functionalize the polymer. The post-functionalization of enzymatically synthesized polymers with photoresponsive chromophores provides new molecularly engineered materials that are useful in photonics and sensor applications.

Keywords:

• Enzymatic polymerization
• Horseradish peroxidase
• Poly(4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol)
• Characterization
• ¹H-NMR
• ¹³C-NMR
• IR
• UV-Vis spectroscopy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the National Science Foundation (NSF) for financial support through a research grant (DMR- 9986644). The authors thank Drs. Rajesh Kumar and Wei Liu for helpful suggestions. We acknowledge the collaborative efforts of the University of Delhi, India.