Microbial Synthesis of Poly(β-hydroxyalkanoates) Bearing Phenyl Groups from Pseudomonas p utida:  Chemical Structure and Characterization

New poly(β-hydroxyalkanoates) having aromatics groups (so-called PHPhAs) from a microbial origin have been characterized. These polymers were produced and accumulated as reserve materials when a β-oxidation mutant of Pseudomonas putida U, disrupted in the gene that encodes the 3-ketoacyl−CoA thiolase (fadA), was cultured in a chemically defined medium containing different aromatic fatty acids (6-phenylhexanoic acid, 7-phenylheptanoic acid, a mixture of them, or 8-phenyloctanoic acid) as carbon sources. The polymers were extracted from the bacteria, purified and characterized by using 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Structural studies revealed that when 6-phenylhexanoic acid was added to the cultures, an homopolymer (poly-3-hydroxy-6-phenylhexanoate) was accumulated. The feeding with 8-phenyloctanoic acid and 7-phenylheptanoic acid leads to the formation of copolymers of the corresponding units with the n − 2 carbons formed after deacetylation, copoly(3-hydroxy-8-phenyloctanoate−3-hydroxy-6-phenylhexanoate) and copoly(3-hydroxy-7-phenylheptanoate−3-hydroxy-5-phenylvalerate), respectively. The mixture of 6-phenylhexanoic acid and 7-phenylheptanoic acid gave rise to the corresponding terpolymer, copoly(3-hydroxy-7-phenylheptanoate−3-hydroxy-6-phenylhexanoate−3-hydroxy-5-phenylvalerate). Studies on the chemical structure of these three polyesters revealed that they were true copolymers but not a mixture of homopolymers and that the different monomeric units were randomly incorporated in the macromolecular chains. Thermal behavior and molecular weight distribution were also discussed. These compounds had a dual attractive interest in function of (i) their broad use as biodegradable polymers and (ii) their possible biomedical applications.