The field of enzyme based polymer synthesis has been growing in academic and industrial laboratories over the pst
15 years. For both, economic and social responsible reasons, it is critical to turn our attention to methods that are
`environmentally friendly` or `green`. By combining bioctalytic and chmical methods the "best" of both can be
extracted to create unique and important materials.
Sophorolipids are microbial glycolipids. They are fermentatively produced by yeasts such as Candida bombicola,
Yarrowia lipolytica, Candida apicola and Candida bogoriensis when they are grown on sugars, hydrocarbons,
vegetable oils or mixtures thereof. Their biological role is still as subject of investigation but they have been
reported to be of interest for cancer treatment, for treatment of autoimmune disorders and for regulation of
angiogenesis.
In this proposal the focus of these highly functionalized sugar moieties however, is based on their application on
polymers. From the chemical point of view Sophorolipids are extremely useful building blocks for the preparation
of amphiphilic polymers. Sophorolipids have multiple hydroxyl groups with similar reactivity. Selective enzyme-
catalysis will be used to transform these building blocks to polymerizable monomers with one vinyl reactive group
in specific positions. One goal of this programm will be the exploration of living free radical polymerization
methods on this monomers to create block and graft copolymers that contain novel vinyl sophorolipid chain
segments and in an ideal case retain biological activity upon polymerization. Another goal is based on the use of
these sophorolipids as interesting targets for metathesis polymerization employing Grubbs Ruthenium-based
catalysts.
In this way, a family of new functionally rich polymers with potential bioactivity and association behavior will be
created.