Biodegradation of poly(tetramethylene succinate-co-tetramethylene adipate) and poly(tetramethylene succinate) through water-soluble products.

Poly(tetramethylene succinate-co-tetramethylene adipate) (PBSA) and poly(tetramethylenesuccinate) (PBS) were hydrolyzed experimentally into water-soluble oligomers and monomers by Chromobacterium extracellular lipase. The oligomers were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance, which indicated that a total of 28 oligomer species were liberated from PBSA, and that 13 of them were identical to the hydrolysates from PBS. Moreover, 20 of the species were polyester-based compounds of monomer units, and the other 8 species were small amounts of diurethane compounds. Bis(hydroxybutyl) succinate (BSB) and bis(hydroxybutyl) hexamethylene dicarbamate (BHB) were the typical oligomers and were chemically synthesized. Biodegradability of BSB and BHB was examined for 28 d in the activated sludge, and analysis of the results of this study indicated that the final conversion rate of constituent carbon to carbon dioxide was estimated at 80 mol% for BSB and 10 mol% for BHB. The remaining amount of carbon in the undegraded BHB was 20 mol%. In the presence of BSB, the biodegradability of BHB was increased by about 1.5 times. The suggestion was made that BSB induced a growth of microorganisms and helped BHB degradation. This is consistent with the observation that the biodegradation of BHB in native soil for 60 d reached > 60%.