Harnessing biocatalysis to achieve selective functional group interconversion of monomers.

Polymeric materials are ubiquitous to modern life. However, reliance of petroleum for polymeric building blocks is not sustainable. The synthesis of macromolecules from recalcitrant polymer waste feedstocks, such as plastic waste and lignocellulosic biomass, presents an opportunity to bypass the use of petroleum-based feedstocks. However, the deconstruction and transformation of these alternative feedstocks remained limited until recently. Herein, we highlight examples of monomers liberated from the deconstruction of recalcitrant polymers, and more extensively, we showcase the state-of-the-art in biocatalytic technologies that are enabling synthesis of diverse upcycled monomeric starting materials for a wide variety of macromolecules. Overall, this review emphasizes the importance of functional group interconversion as a promising strategy by which biocatalysis can aid the diversification and upcycling of monomers.

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Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest A.M.K. is a co-founder of Nitro Biosciences and a Scientific Advisory Board member of Wild Microbes. In addition, A.M.K. and M.R.G. are co-inventors on a filed patent application related to the use of enzymes for selective functional group interconversion of PET deconstruction products.