Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)

Facile Determination of Polymer Compositions in Polyhydroxyalkanoates via 1H Benchtop NMR Spectroscopy (2023)

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters produced by bacterial fermentation of carbon sources, such as lipids or sugars. As biomaterials, these polymers have been proposed as an attractive alternative to non-renewable petroleum resources to make various consumer products. Typically, the polymer compositions in PHAs are determined using gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID), or 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In this application note, we demonstrate that benchtop 1H NMR spectroscopy can be used to determine polymer compositions in PHAs accurately and quickly.