Poly(hexamethylene carbonate) (PHC) is an

organic polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

. It can be biodegredated to form

adipic acid Adipic acid or hexanedioic acid is the organic compound with the formula (CH2)4(COOH)2. From an industrial perspective, it is the most important dicarboxylic acid: about 2.5 billion kilograms of this white crystalline powder are produced annually, ...

and di(6-hydroxyhexyl) carbonate by ''

Roseateles depolymerans ''Roseateles depolymerans'' is an aerobic photosynthetic bacterium from the genus ''Roseateles'', which was isolated from river water (Hanamuro River, Tsukuba, Japan). ''R. depolymerans'' is a bacteriochlorophyll ''a''-containing obligate aerob ...

'' 61A. PHC can be synthesized to terminate in primarily hydroxyl groups or methyl carbonate groups depending on the concentrations of monomers during synthesis. PHC with the hydroxyl end groups has less thermal stability than PHC with methyl carbonate end groups. The hydroxyl group allow for an unzipping reaction to take place in which the polymer chain bends back on itself and the hydroxyl group reacts with an acetyl mid chain, resulting in a shorter chain and a looped molecule. This type of degradation quickly shorten the length of the PHC.

References

Organic polymers Carbonate esters {{polymer-stub