According to Japan Chemical Week, Japanese scientists have developed technology for the synthesis of polylactic acid (PLA) from biomass in one step.
In the conventional process of making PLA, starch from plants like corn, sugarcane or potatoes undergoes microbial fermentation and complicated processes to form cyclic lactide monomers, which are then subjected to ring-opening polymerization in the presence of a metallic catalyst and heat to obtain the polymer. The article reports PLA manufacturers have been aggressively pursuing simpler, more-efficient process technology. In addition to being simpler than current processes, this technology is also able to produce specific PLA enantiomers.
The technology has reportedly been successfully patented, but the details of the technology were not provided.
Cited from "Industrial Biotech Innovation Report"
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