Properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)-graft-polyacrylamide copolymers depending on the graft length. 3. Benzene solubilization by solutions of the copolymer

The peculiarities of poly(vinyl alcohol)-graft-polyacrylamide copolymers (PVA-g-PAA), which are characterized by the equal average number (N=9), but various molecular weight (or length) of graft chains, in comparison with individual PAA and PVA, were investigated in aqueous medium. Sharp rise in benzene solubilization in PVA-g-PAA solutions at M_PAA higher than 4.3·10⁵ has been established. It was shown that such effect is stipulated by the destruction of intramolecular polymer-polymer complex in the copolymer and increasing the benzene binding to separate PVA-g-PAA groups by means of hydrogen bonds. The changes in the PVA-g-PAA solubilizing ability as the function of temperature were also investigated. The obtained results are discussed from the point of view of conformational transitions of intramolecular polymer-polymer complexes (intraPPC), which exist in copolymers, in dependence on the length of graft chains.     

Influence of feeding strategies of mixed microbial cultures on the chemical composition and microstructure of copolyesters P(3HB‐co‐3HV) analyzed by NMR and statistical analysis

NMR spectroscopy was applied for quantitative and qualitative characterization of the chemical composition and microstructure of a series of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydoxyvalerate) copolymers, P(3HB‐co‐3HV), synthesized by mixed microbial cultures at several different feeding strategies. The monomer sequence distribution of the bacterially synthesized P(3HB‐co‐3HV) was defined by analysis of their high‐resolution 1D ¹³C NMR and 2D ¹H/¹³C HSQC and ¹H/¹³C HMBC NMR spectra. The results were verified by employment of statistical methods and suggest a block copolymer microstructure of the P(3HB‐co‐3HV) copolymers studied. Definitive distinction between block copolymers or a mixture of random copolymers could not be achieved. NMR spectral analysis indicates that the chemical composition and microstructure of the copolymers can be tuned by choosing a correct feeding strategy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and Properties of Degradable Copolymers Composed of Poly(ε‐caprolactone) and 3,4‐Dihydroxycinnamic Acid

Photoreactive and degradable hyperbranched (HB) copolymers with various 3,4‐dihydroxycinnamic acid (DHCA) compositions, poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐co‐poly(3,4‐dihydroxycinnamic acid) (PCL‐co‐PDHCA), were obtained by thermal melt‐polycondensation of PCL and DHCA. The HB structures and the branching degree (BD) of the PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR). The melting points (T_m) of the PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers changed depending on the PCL and DHCA composition by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. Wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WXRD) analysis showed semi‐crystalline of the PCL and PCL‐co‐PDHCA polymers. The PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers showed good photoreactivities and fluorescent properties. Crosslinking of the cinnamoyl groups in the copolymers caused by UV irradiation affected the thermal stability and wettability slightly. Moreover, the hydrolysis experiments revealed that copolymers are facile degradable.     

Synthesis and characterization of electrically conducting poly(o‐/m‐toluidine‐co‐o‐/m‐aminoacetophenone) copolymers

A series of poly(o‐/m‐toluidine‐co‐o‐/m‐aminoacetophenone) copolymers combining the features of high conductivity and processibility are synthesized and characterized by a number of techniques including ¹H NMR; thermogravimetry; IR, Raman, and UV–visible spectroscopy; scanning electron microscopy; and X‐ray diffraction. The copolymers are synthesized by the emulsion and inverse emulsion methods using conventional ammonium persulfate and a new oxidant, benzoyl peroxide, respectively. The influence of the polymerization conditions such as the monomer feed ratios, solvent, and the nonsolvent is investigated. The composition of the resulting copolymers is determined by ¹H NMR analysis. The conductivity of the copolymers varies with the aminoacetophenone content in the feed and the polymerization conditions. It is interesting that the conductivity of the copolymers is higher than that of the corresponding homopolymers. The results are rationalized on the basis of the effect of the ? COCH₃ substituent on the polymer structure. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4300–4310, 2004     

Synthesis of amphiphilic and thermosensitive graft copolymers with fluorescence P(St‐co‐(p‐CMS))‐g‐PNIPAAM by combination of NMP and RAFT methods

A three‐step process, combining nitroxide‐mediated polymerization (NMP) and reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization techniques, for synthesizing well‐defined amphiphilic and thermosensitive graft copolymers with fluorescence poly(styrene‐co‐(p‐chloromethylstyrene))‐g‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (P(St‐co‐(p‐CMS))‐g‐PNIPAAM), was conducted. Firstly, the NMP of styrene (St) and p‐chloromethylstyrene (p‐CMS) were carried out using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as the initiator to obtain the random copolymers of P(St‐co‐(p‐CMS)). Secondly, the random copolymers were converted into macro‐RAFT agents with fluorescent carbazole as Z‐group through a simple method. Then the macro‐RAFT agents were used in the RAFT polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) to prepare fluorescent amphiphilic graft copolymers P(St‐co‐(p‐CMS))‐g‐PNIPAAM with controlled molecular weights and well‐defined structures. The copolymers obtained were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and FT‐IR spectroscopy. The size of self‐assembly micelles of the resulting graft copolymers in deionized water was studied by high performance particle sizer (HPPS), the results showed that the Z‐average size of the micelles increased with the increase of molecular weights of PNIPAAM in side chains. The aqueous solution of the micelles prepared from P(St‐co‐(p‐CMS))‐g‐PNIPAAM using a dialysis method showed a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at ～ 27.5 °C, which was below the value of NIPAAM homopolymer (32 °C). © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5318–5328, 2007     

Structural effect of polymeric acid dopants on the characteristics of doped polyaniline composites: Effect of hydrogen bonding

The conductivities of polyaniline (PANi) composites doped with the copolymeric acids such as poly(methyl methacrylate-co-p-styrenesulfonic acid) (PMMA-co-SSA), poly(styrene-co-p-styrenesulfonic acid) (PS-co-SSA), and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PMMA-co-AMPS) were investigated as a function of the acid content in the copolymeric acid dopants. With the fixed ratio of acid to aniline (1/1) in the PANi composites, the conductivities of the copolymeric acid-doped PANis decreased as the acid content in the copolymeric acids decreased. This could be attributed to the nonacidic units in the copolymeric acids which seemed to prevent adjacent acid groups from doping the PANi. Among the three kinds of copolymeric acid dopants, the PMMA-co-SSA series doped the PANi most effectively, and consequently, the PMMA-co-SSA-doped PANi composites showed the highest conductivities. The lack of conductivities of the PMMA-co-AMPS-doped PANi composites seems to be due to the doping ability of the AMPS groups. The higher conductivities of the PMMA-co-SSA-doped PANi composites rather than the PS-co-SSA-doped ones were attributed to the hydrogen bonding formed between the carbonyl groups in MMA and the amine groups in aniline which may hinder the phase separation and induce more homogeneous mixing and efficient doping. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1431–1439, 1998     

Properties of poly(vinyl alcohol)-graft-polyacrylamide copolymers depending on the graft length. 2. Thermal properties in the bulk state

Thermal behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol)-graft-polyacrylamide copolymers (PVA-g-PAA), so-called intramolecular polymer-polymer complexes (intraPC), with variable M̄ _vPAA and constant average number N of grafts is considered in this report. Complete compatibility of PVA and PAA through hydrogen bonding is realized in the range of the graft lengths not exceeding some critical value. The content of adsorbed and trapped water in graft copolymers reflects some features of PVA-g-PAA_N structure depending on the graft lengths. The first thermal decomposition region in air for copolymers begins at higher temperatures with growing M̄ _vPAA, but the total destruction interval reduces. Formal kinetic decomposition parameters of the first decomposition stage appear to be the largest for the PVA-g-PAA with the largest quantity of H-bonds between the main and graft chains. Chemical transformations in graft copolymers, PVA and PAA during thermal decomposition are discussed.     

Different crystallinity of poly(d,l-lactide-co-p-dioxanone) copolymers acquired by control of chain microstructure

Poly(d,l-lactide-co-p-dioxanone)(P(LA-co-PDO)) copolymers with different chain microstructures were synthesized by one-step or two-step bulk ring-opening polymerizations of d,l-lactide(LA) and p-dioxanone(PDO) monomers using stannous octoate [Sn(Oct)_2]/n-dodecanol as the initiating system.The average sequence lengths of the lactidyl(L_(LA)) and dioxanyl(L_(PDO)) units were calculated from the ~1H NMR spectra.It was found that both L_(LA) and L_(PDO) values from the two-step syntheses were significantly ...     

Proton conductivity survey of the acid doped copolymers based on 4‐vinylbenzylboronic acid and 4(5)‐vinylimidazole

In this work, poly(4‐vinylbenzylboronic acid‐co‐4(5)‐vinylimidazole) (poly(4‐VBBA‐co‐4‐Vim)) copolymers were synthesized by free‐radical copolymerization of the monomers 4‐VBBA and 4‐Vim at various monomer feed ratios. The copolymers were characterized by ¹H MAS NMR and ¹¹B MQ‐MAS NMR methods and the copolymer composition was determined via elemental analysis. The membrane properties of these copolymers were investigated after doping with phosphoric acid at several stoichiometric ratios. The proton exchange reaction between acid and heterocycle is confirmed by FTIR. Thermal properties of the samples were investigated via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The morphology of the copolymers was characterized by x‐ray diffraction, XRD. The temperature dependence of proton conductivities of the samples was investigated by means of impedance spectroscopy. Proton conductivity of the copolymers increased with the doping ratio and reached to 0.0027 S/cm for poly(4‐VBBA‐co‐4‐Vim)/2H₃PO₄ in the anhydrous state. The boron coordination in the copolymer was determined by ¹¹B MQ‐MAS experiment and the coexistence of three and four coordinated boron sites was observed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1267–1274, 2009     

A minimal amount of acrylonitrile turns the nitroxide‐mediated polymerization of methyl methacrylate into an almost ideal controlled/living system

Nitroxide‐mediated controlled/living free‐radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by the SG1‐based alkoxyamine BlocBuilder was successfully performed in bulk at 80–99 °C with the help of a very small amount of acrylonitrile (AN, 2.2–8.8 mol %) as a comonomer. Well‐defined PMMA‐rich P(MMA‐co‐AN) copolymers were prepared with the number‐average molar mass, M_n, in the 6.1–32 kg mol^?1 range and polydispersity indexes as low as 1.24. Incorporation of AN in the copolymers was demonstrated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and its effect on the chain thermal properties was evaluated by DSC and TGA analyses. Investigation of chain‐end functionalization by an alkoxyamine group was performed by means of ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and chain extensions from a P(MMA‐co‐AN)‐SG1 macroinitiator. It demonstrated the very high proportion of SG1‐terminated polymer chains, which opened the door to block copolymer synthesis with a high quality of control. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 34–47, 2010     

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymers containing 5‐nitroisophthalic units. II. Crystallization studies

The microstructure and crystallization behavior of a set of poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐5‐nitroisophthalate) copolymers (PETNI) containing 5‐nitroisophthalic units in the 10–50 mol % range were examined and compared to those of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene terephthalate‐co‐isophthalate) (PETI) copolymers. A ¹³C NMR analysis of PETNI copolymers in a trifluoroacetic acid solution indicates that they are random copolymers with average sequence lengths in accordance with ideal polycondensation statistics. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies show that PETNI containing 5‐nitroisophthalic units up to 20 mol % are able to crystallize and that crystallization takes place in these copolymers at much slower rates than in PET. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction from powder and fibers reveals that crystallizable PETNI adopts the same triclinic crystal structure as PET, with the nitroisophthalate units being excluded from crystallites. Fourier transform infrared in combination with cross‐polarization/magic‐angle spinning ¹³C NMR spectroscopy demonstrates the occurrence of a gauche–trans conversion encompassing the crystallization process. A correlation between DSC and spectroscopic data leads us to conclude that the content of trans conformer in the noncrystallized phase of PETNI is higher than in both PET and PETI copolymers and suggests that secondary crystallization in the homopolymer must proceed by a mechanism different than that in copolymers. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 1553–1564, 2001     

Preparation and characterization of PVDF‐based blend membranes as polymer electrolyte membranes in fuel cells: Study of factor affecting the proton conductivity behavior

There is a huge demand especially for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymers to provide high performance solid polymer electrolytes for use as an electrolyte in energy supply systems. In this regard, the blending approach was used to prepare PVDF‐based proton exchange membranes and focused on the study of factor affecting the ir proton conductivity behavior. Thus, a series of copolymers consisting of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and poly(2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐l‐propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) as sulfonated segments were synthesized and blended with PVDF matrix in order to create proton transport sites in PVDF matrix. It was found that addition of PMMA‐co‐PAMPS and PAN‐co‐PAMPS copolymers resulted in a significant increase in porosity, which favored the water uptake and proton transport at ambient temperature. Furthermore, crystallinity degree of the PVDF‐based blend membranes was increased by addition of the related copolymers, which is mainly attributed to formation of hydrogen bonding interaction between PVDF matrix and the synthesized copolymers, and led to a slight decrease in proton conductivity behavior of blend membranes. From impedance data, the proton conductivity of the PVDF/PMMA‐co‐PAMPS and PVDF/PAN‐co‐PAMPS blend membranes increases to 10 and 8.4 mS cm⁻¹ by adding only 50% of the related copolymer (at 25°C), respectively. Also, the blend membranes containing 30% sulfonated copolymers showed a power density as high as 34.30 and 30.10 mW cm⁻² at peak current density of 140 and 79.45 mA cm⁻² for the PVDF/PMMA‐co‐PAMPS and PVDF/PAN‐co‐PAMPS blend membranes, respectively. A reduction in the tensile strength was observed by the addition of amphiphilic copolymer, whereas the elongation at break of all blend membranes was raised.     

P (VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐P2VP amphiphilic graft copolymers: Synthesis,structure, and permeation properties

A series of amphiphilic graft copolymers of poly (vinylidene fluoride‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene)‐g‐poly(2‐vinyl pyridine), P (VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐P2VP, with different degrees of P2VP grafting (from 26.3 to 45.6 wt%) was synthesized via one‐pot atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The amphiphilic properties of P (VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐P2VP graft copolymers allowed itself to self‐assemble into nanoscale structures. P (VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐P2VP graft copolymers were introduced into neat P (VDF‐co‐CTFE) as additives to form blending membranes. When two different solvents, N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) and dimethylformamide (DMF), were used, specific organized crystalline structures were observed only in the NMP systems. P (VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐P2VP played a pivotal role in controlling the morphology and pore structure of membranes. The water flux of the membranes increased from 57.2 to 310.1 L m^?2 h^?1 bar^?1 with an increase in the PVDF‐co‐CTFE‐g‐P2VP loading (from 0 to 30 wt%) due to increased porosity and hydrophilicity. The flux recovery ratio (FRR) increased from 67.03% to 87.18%, and the irreversible fouling (R_ir) decreased from 32.97% to 12.82%. Moreover, the pure gas permeance of the membranes with respect to N₂ was as high as 6.2 × 10⁴ GPU (1 GPU = 10^–6 cm³[STP]/[s cm² cmHg]), indicating their possible use as a porous polymer support for gas separation applications.     

Polyurea microcapsules from isocyanatoethyl methacrylate copolymers

The synthesis of two types of isocyanate side chain containing copolymers, poly(methyl methacrylate‐co‐isocyanatoethyl methacrylate) (P(MMA‐co‐IEM)) and poly(benzyl methacrylate‐co‐isocyanatoethyl methacrylate) (P(BnMA‐co‐IEM)), which were synthesized by Cu(0)‐mediated radical polymerization, is reported. Polymerization proceeded to high conversion giving polymers of relatively narrow molar mass distributions. The incorporation of the bulky aromatic groups in the latter copolymer rendered it sufficiently stable toward hydrolysis and enabled the isolation of the product and its characterization by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and FTIR spectroscopy and SEC. Both P(MMA‐co‐IEM) and P(BnMA‐co‐IEM) were functionalized with dibutylamine, octylamine, and (R)‐(+)‐α‐methylbenzyl‐amine, which further proved the successful incorporation of the isocyanate groups. Furthermore, P(BnMA‐co‐IEM) was used for the fabrication of liquid core microcapsules via oil‐in‐water interfacial polymerization with diethylenetriamine as crosslinker. The particles obtained were in the size range of 10–90 µm in diameter independent of the composition of copolymer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2698–2705     

Nanofiltration membranes based on poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene)‐graft‐poly(styrene sulfonic acid)

Graft copolymers comprising poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐chlorotrifluoroethylene) backbone and poly(styrene sulfonic acid) side chains, i.e. P(VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐PSSA were synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) for composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes. Direct initiation of the secondary chlorinated site of CTFE units facilitates grafting of PSSA, as revealed by FT‐IR spectroscopy. The successful “grafting from” method and the microphase‐separated structure of the graft copolymer were confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Wide angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) also showed the decrease in the crystallinity of P(VDF‐co‐CTFE) upon graft copolymerization. Composite NF membranes were prepared from P(VDF‐co‐CTFE)‐g‐PSSA as a top layer coated onto P(VDF‐co‐CTFE) ultrafiltration support membrane. Both the rejections and the flux of composite membranes increased with increasing PSSA concentration due to the increase in SO₃H groups and membrane hydrophilicity, as supported by contact angle measurement. The rejections of NF membranes containing 47 wt% of PSSA were 83% for Na₂SO₄ and 28% for NaCl, and the solution flux were 18 and 32 L/m² hr, respectively, at 0.3 MPa pressure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation by controlled radical polymerization and self‐assembly via base‐recognition of synthetic polymers bearing complementary nucleobases

The radical polymerization of three monomers bearing nucleobases 1‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)thymine (VBT), 1‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)uracil (VBU) and 9‐(4‐vinylbenzyl)adenine (VBA) was investigated. The corresponding homopolymers could be prepared in high yields via conventional radical polymerization. However, the resulting polymers were found to be only soluble in a few polar solvents. On the other hand, copolymers of dodecyl methacrylate (DMA) with either VBT or VBA could be prepared via both free radical polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization and could be dissolved in a large variety of organic solvents. Moreover, the formed complementary copolymers P(VBT‐co‐DMA) and P(VBA‐co‐DMA) were found to self‐assemble in dilute solutions in dioxane or chloroform via base recognition, as evidenced by a significant hypochromicity effect in UV spectroscopy. Nevertheless, at higher concentrations in chloroform, both dynamic light scattering and optical microscopy indicate that P(VBT‐co‐DMA), P(VBA‐co‐DMA), or P(VBT‐co‐DMA)/P(VBA‐co‐DMA) mixtures spontaneously self‐assemble into micron size spherical aggregates. ¹H NMR and FTIR studies confirmed that the self‐assembly process is driven in all cases via H‐bond formation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4805–4818, 2005     

DNA Separation by Microchip Electrophoresis Using Copolymers of Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and Hydroxyethylcellulose

Copolymers of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) were synthesized, with PVP to HEC molar ratios of 3:1, 2:1 and 1:1. The copolymers were tested as separation media in DNA fragment separation analysis by microchip electrophoresis (MCE). Separation efficiency over 3.8×10⁵ for 118 bp has been reached by using the bare channels without the additional polymer coating step. Under optimized separation conditions for longer read length DNA sequencing, the separation ability of the copolymers decreased with decreasing (PVP‐co‐HEC) molar ratio from 3:1 to 2:1 and 1:1. In comparison with (PVP‐co‐HEC) 1:1, the copolymer with (PVP‐co‐HEC) 3:1 ratio showed high separation efficiency. By using a 20 g·L^?1 copolymer with (PVP‐co‐HEC) 3:1 ratio, ΦΧ174‐HaeIII digest DNA marker was successfully separated within 3 min.     

Perfluorocarbon‐loaded shell crosslinked knedel‐like nanoparticles: Lessons regarding polymer mobility and self‐assembly

Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization was employed to synthesize a set of copolymers of styrene (PS) and 2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorostyrene (PPFS), as well as block copolymers with tert‐butyl acrylate (PtBA)‐b‐PS‐co‐PPFS, with control over molecular weight and polydispersity. It was found that the copolymerization of styrene and PFS allowed for the preparation of gradient copolymers with opposite levels of monomer consumption, depending on the feed ratio. Conversion to amphiphilic block copolymers, PAA‐b‐(PS‐co‐PPFS), by removing the protecting groups was followed by fitting with monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) chains. Solution‐state assembly and intramicellar crosslinking afforded shell crosslinked knedel‐like (SCK) block copolymer nanoparticles. These fluorinated nanoparticles (ca. 20 nm diameters) were studied as potential magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents based on the ¹⁹F‐nuclei; however, it was found that packaging of the hydrophobic fluorinated polymers into the core domain restricted the mobility of the chains and prohibited ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy when the particles were dispersed in water without an organic cosolvent. Packing of perflouro‐15‐crown‐5‐ether (PFCE) into the polymer micelle was demonstrated with good uptake efficiency; however, it was necessary to swell the core with a good solvent (DMSO) to increase the mobility and observe the ¹⁹F NMR signal of the PFCE. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1023–1037, 2009     

Synthesis and characterization of novel poly(ester carbonate)s based on pentaerythritol

Novel poly(ester carbonate)s were synthesized by the ring‐opening polymerization of L ‐lactide and functionalized carbonate monomer 9‐phenyl‐2,4,8,10‐tetraoxaspiro[5,5]undecan‐3‐one derived from pentaerythritol with diethyl zinc as an initiator. ¹H NMR analysis revealed that the carbonate content in the copolymer was almost equal to that in the feed. DSC results indicated that T_g of the copolymer increased with increasing carbonate content in the copolymer. Moreover, the protecting benzylidene groups in the copolymer poly(L ‐lactide‐co‐9‐phenyl‐2,4,8,10‐tetraoxaspiro[5,5]undecan‐3‐one) were removed by hydrogenation with palladium hydroxide on activated charcoal as a catalyst to give a functional copolymer, poly(L ‐lactide‐co‐2,2‐dihydroxylmethyl‐propylene carbonate), containing pendant primary hydroxyl groups. Complete deprotection was confirmed by ¹H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. The in vitro degradation rate of the deprotected copolymers was faster than that of the protected copolymers in the presence of proteinase K. The cell morphology and viability on a copolymer film evaluated with ECV‐304 cells showed that poly(ester carbonate)s derived from pentaerythritol are good biocompatible materials suitable for biomedical applications. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45:1737 –1745, 2007     

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Aliphatic Poly(carbonate‐ester)s with Functional Pendent Groups

Summary: A novel cyclic carbonate monomer 5‐methyl‐5‐(succinimide‐N‐oxycarbonyl)‐1,3‐dioxan‐2‐one (MSTC) was prepared. The copolymers of MSTC with caprolactone (CL) were further synthesized by ring‐opening copolymerization. The copolymers with amido‐amine pendent groups were obtained by aminolysis of poly(MSTC‐co‐CL) with ethylenediamine. These copolymers were characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR spectroscopies and GPC. The hydrophilicity and degradability of the copolymers with amido‐amine pendent groups were greatly improved in comparison with the PCL homopolymer.

Hydrophilicity of PCL (1), poly(MATC‐co‐CL) (16.5:83.5) (2), and poly(MATC‐co‐CL) (29.5:70.5) (3).