| 초록 |
Aliphatic polyesters, owing to their biodegradability and biocompatibility, have gained widespread interest for their variable applications ranging from drug deliver carriers, scaffolds for tissue engineering to thermoplastic packing materials. The most widely studied examples are PLA, PLGA, PCL, and PVL. To expand the applications of these polyesters, functionalization of polyesters either by direct ROP of functionalized cyclic ester monomers or post-polymerization modifications has been investigated to regulate the hydrophilicity, degradation profile, as well as to anchor functional groups for further conjugation of bioactive molecules like drugs, peptides, and proteins. Functionalization has been mostly directed to introduce side groups, while main chain functionalization has been less investigated mainly owing to the limit of possibilities to introduce hetero-atoms into the backbone of polyesters. We are more interested in the thioether-containing polyesters, owing to the ROS-responsive property of the thioether moieties. In this talk, I will discuss the facile synthesis and controlled ROP of two new types of monomers: 1,4-oxathian-2-one (OXO) and 1,4-oxathiepan-7-one (OTO). Moreover, the detailed oxidative degradation process of the homopolymers, block copolymers will also be reported together with the results from small model reactions. With that, we will try to elucidate the effects of oxidation on the properties of these thioether containing polyesters. |
