High-performance poly(benzoxazole/benzimidazole) bio-based plastics with ultra-low dielectric constant from 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid

A 4-hydroxybenzoate 3-hydroxylase mutant enables 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoic acid production from glucose in Corynebacterium glutamicum

BACKGROUND

Microbial production of aromatic chemicals is an attractive method for obtaining high-performance materials from biomass resources. A non-proteinogenic amino acid, 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoic acid (4,3-AHBA), is expected to be a precursor of highly functional polybenzoxazole polymers; however, methods for its microbial production have not been reported. In this study, we attempted to produce 4,3-AHBA from glucose by introducing 3-hydroxylation of 4-aminobenzoic acid (4-ABA) into the metabolic pathway of an industrially relevant bacterium, Corynebacterium glutamicum.

RESULTS

Six different 4-hydroxybenzoate 3-hydroxylases (PHBHs) were heterologously expressed in C. glutamicum strains, which were then screened for the production of 4,3-AHBA by culturing with glucose as a carbon source. The highest concentration of 4,3-AHBA was detected in the strain expressing PHBH from Caulobacter vibrioides (CvPHBH). A combination of site-directed mutagenesis in the active site and random mutagenesis via laccase-mediated colorimetric assay allowed us to obtain CvPHBH mutants that enhanced 4,3-AHBA productivity under deep-well plate culture conditions. The recombinant C. glutamicum strain expressing CvPHBHM106A/T294S and having an enhanced 4-ABA biosynthetic pathway produced 13.5 g/L (88 mM) 4,3-AHBA and 0.059 g/L (0.43 mM) precursor 4-ABA in fed-batch culture using a nutrient-rich medium. The culture of this strain in the chemically defined CGXII medium yielded 9.8 C-mol% of 4,3-AHBA from glucose, corresponding to 12.8% of the theoretical maximum yield (76.8 C-mol%) calculated using a genome-scale metabolic model of C. glutamicum.

CONCLUSIONS

Identification of PHBH mutants that could efficiently catalyze the 3-hydroxylation of 4-ABA in C. glutamicum allowed us to construct an artificial biosynthetic pathway capable of producing 4,3-AHBA on a gram-scale using glucose as the carbon source. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of enzyme-catalyzed regioselective hydroxylation of aromatic chemicals and to the diversification of biomass-derived precursors for high-performance materials.

Recent advances in lignocellulosic biomass white biotechnology for bioplastics

Lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an inedible feedstock for bioplastic synthesis, although its use is still limited compared to current edible feedstocks of glucose and starch. This review focuses on recent advances in the production of biopolymers and biomonomers from lignocellulosic feedstocks with downstream processing and chemical polymer syntheses. In microbial production, four routes composed of existing poly (lactic acid) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and the emerging biomonomers of itaconic acid and aromatic compounds were presented to review present challenges and future perspectives, focusing on the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Recently, advances in purification technologies decreased the number of processes and their environmental burden. Additionally, the unique structures and high-performance of emerging lignocellulose-based bioplastics have expanded the possibilities for the use of bioplastics. The sequence of processes provides insight into the emerging technologies that are needed for the practical use of bioplastics made from lignocellulosic biomass.

Stepwise copolymerization of polybenzimidazole for a low dielectric constant and ultrahigh heat resistance

Bio-based polymer materials having great potential due to the depletion of fossil-fuel resources have been applied as single-use and medicinal materials but their low thermomechanical resistance have limited wider applications. Here, ultrahigh thermoresistant bio-based terpolymers with a low dielectric constant, comprising polybenzimidazole and poly(benzoxazole-random-aramid), were prepared by a method involving stepwise polycondensation of three monomers, 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid for benzimidazoles, 3-amino-4-hydroxylbenzoic acid for benzoxazoles, and 4-aminobenzoic acid for aramids. For optimized monomer compositions, the obtained terpolymers exhibited dielectric constants lower than 3, and a 10% mass loss at approximately 760 °C which is a temperature higher than that for any other polymer material reported so far. The high thermal degradation temperatures of the prepared terpolymers were a result of the high interaction enthalpies of hydrogen bonding between imidazole rings in the polymer chains, which were obtained from density functional theory calculations using trimer models. Furthermore, the applicability of the prepared terpolymers as a wire-coating material for a simple motor insulation was demonstrated, indicating that it has significant potential to be used as a thermostable material with a low dielectric constant (k).

A stepwise polymerization of polybenzimidazole is adopted to synthesize terpolymers with block structure, their films exhibit a low dielectric constant and ultrahigh thermal resistance.

Synthesis of a Stable Benzoxazole Gel from an Imine Gel for Adsorption and Catalysis

Developing stable gel materials for adsorption and catalysis is one of the major themes of gel materials. However, it has been proven to be challenging to achieve them from small molecules. Herein, an imine gel is developed from tetra-aldehyde 4-{2,2-bis[(4-formylphenoxy)methyl]-3-(4-formylphenoxy)propoxy}benzaldehyde (A4) and 3,3'-dihydroxybenzidine (B2) based on dynamic covalent chemistry. The unstable A4B2-imine gel is further converted into a stable aromatic benzoxazole-linked A4B2-benzoxazole gel via oxidative cyclization, which has significantly improved chemical stability under acidic and basic conditions. Benefiting from the stability under acidic conditions, the A4B2-benzoxazole gel is used for Pd(II) adsorption and the adsorption capacity is 250 mg g^-1. After PdCl₂ immersion and reduction, palladium nanoparticles with a size distribution of 1.3-14.7 nm are encapsulated by the network structure of the stable porous benzoxazole gel matrix. The Pd@A4B2-benzoxazole gel exhibits high catalytic activity toward the reduction of toxic hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) (reaction rate constant = 0.0377 min^-1), while there is no significant decrease in the catalytic efficiency after five cycles.

Dataset of various characterizations for novel bio-based plastic poly(benzoxazole-co-benzimidazole) with ultra-low dielectric constant

The data presented in this specified data article comprise of various characterization such as: structural, thermal, elemental etc. to understand the novel structure and specific properties of the bio-based plastic as described in the main research article "High-performance poly (benzoxazole/benzimidazole)bio-based plastics with ultra-low dielectric constant from 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid" [1]. The data of 1H NMR spectra of two monomers and their HCl salt formation required for polymerization, FT-IR spectra of polymer formation before and after thermal ring-closing and additionally supported by the thermogravimetric plots where mass loss due to water is observed around 400 °C (thermal ring closing temperature). Solvent plays effective role to change dielectric properties significantly, complete removal of the remaining solvents was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique. Wide-angle XRD dataset was presented here to make an idea about degree of crystallinity of the prepared polymers.