Synthesis, characterization and enzymatic degradation of copolymers of ε-caprolactone and hydroxy-fatty acids

New copolymers of epsilon-caprolactone with three hydroxy-fatty acids, 12-hydroxy stearic acid, 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid and ricinoleic acid, were synthesized by catalytic polyesterification. The reactions were carried out in solvent-free systems and in organic solvents as well, using tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate as catalyst, at different temperatures and molar ratios of the comonomers. Cyclic and linear polymeric products with medium molar weight of about 2000 Da have been synthesized and their chemical structures were confirmed by FT-IR, NMR and MALDI-TOF MS analysis. The synthesis parameters were optimized and the epsilon-caprolactone/hydroxy acid molar ratio was set as 5 : 1, according to mass spectrometry results. The biodegradability of the newly synthesized polymers was studied in the presence of Candida antarctica B lipase in phosphate buffer solutions (pH = 7.4), at 37 degrees C. The weight-loss profile emphasized the degradation of the 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid based polymer samples at more than 50 % of their initial weight in 18 days of incubation in the presence of the lipase. The composition of the degradation products was assessed using the GC-MS technique and displayed residues of the comonomers moieties.