Mass Spectrometry

Biography

Biography: Marek M. Kowalczuk

Abstract

Chemical modifications of bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) in order to introduce functional groups, that cannot be easily achieved by bioconversion processes, is a valuable challenge since chemically modified PHA can be utilized as multifunctional biomaterials. On the other hand, incorporation of bioactive compounds into the β-lactones structure may lead to (homo) and (co)oligoesters with a bioactive moiety covalently linked as pendent groups along an oligomer backbone. This synthetic strategy enables preparation of the natural PHA analogues with ibuprofen pendant groups, pesticide moieties and recently antioxidants used in cosmetics. Contemporary reports on the molecular level characterization of bioactive oligomers derived from  natural PHA and their synthetic analogues, formed through anionic ring-opening  polymerization (ROP) of β-substituted β-lactones, will be presented.  Mass spectrometry studies of  such oligomers will be discussed.  The undertaken approaches enable design of novel biodegradable and bioactive oligomers for diverse applications in medicine, cosmetic industry and agrichemistry.