Ck. Kang et al., STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLY(3-HYDROXYBUTYRATE-CO-4-HYDROXYBUTYRATE) PRODUCED BY ALCALIGENES LATUS, Biotechnology letters, 17(6), 1995, pp. 583-588
Random copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4H
B) with a wide range of compositions varying from 0 to 83 mol% 4HB wer
e produced by Alcaligenes latus from the mixed carbon substrates of 3-
hydroxybutyric and 4-hydroxybutyric acids. The structure and physical
properties of P(3HB-co-4HB) were characterized by H-1 and C-13 NMR spe
ctroscopy, gel-permeation chromatography, and differential scanning ca
lorimetry. The isothermal radial growth rates of spherulites of P(3HB-
co-4HB) were much slower than the rate of P(3HB) homopolymer. The enzy
matic degradation rates of P(3HB-co-4HB) films by a PHB depolymerase w
ere strongly influenced by the copolymer composition.