polyaspartic acid

Polyaspartic acid (PASA) is a biodegradable, water-soluble polyaminoacid with potential to replace many non-biodegradable polymers. It is used as a pure homopolymer and in various copolymers. In nature, PASA has been found in as fragments of larger proteins with length up to 50 amino acids, but as of 2004 had not been isolated as a pure homo polymeric material from any natural source. The first isolation of synthetic oligomeric sodium polyaspartate, obtained by thermal polycondensation of aspartic acid, was done by Hugo Schiff in late 19th century. Later it was proposed that thermal polymerization process leads through polysuccinimide intermediate. Polyaspartic acid is currently produced on the industrial scale and is available as commercial product in forms of acid and sodium polyaspartate.