A Quantum Mechanism Study of the C-C Bond Cleavage to Predict the Bio-Catalytic Polyethylene Degradation

• Main Authors: Junyu Xu, Ziheng Cui, Kaili Nie, Hao Cao, Min Jiang, Haijun Xu, Tianwei Tan, Luo Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-03-01
• Series: Frontiers in Microbiology
• Subjects: polyethylene; oxidation; carbon-carbon bond cleavage; quantum mechanism; bond dissociation energy (BDE)
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00489/full
• ISSN: 1664-302X

The growing amount of plastic solid waste (PSW) is a global concern. Despite increasing efforts to reduce the residual amounts of PSW to be disposed off through segregated collection and recycling, a considerable amount of PSW is still landfilled and the extent of PSW ocean pollution has become a worldwide issue. Particularly, polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) are considered as notably recalcitrant to biodegradation due to the carbon-carbon backbone that is highly resistant to enzymatic degradation via oxidative reactions. The present research investigated the catalytic mechanism of P450 monooxygenases by quantum mechanics to determine the bio-catalytic degradation of PE or PS. The findings indicated that the oxygenase-induced free radical transition caused the carbon-carbon backbone cleavage of aliphatic compounds. This work provides a fundamental knowledge of the biodegradation process of PE or PS at the atomic level and facilitates predicting the pathway of plastics’ biodegradation by microbial enzymes.