Copolymers from Unsaturated Macrolactones: Toward the Design of Cross-Linked Biodegradable Polyesters

Inge van der Meulen, Yingyuan Li, Ronald Deumens, Elbert A. J. Joosten, Cor E. Koning, Andreas Heise*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The enzymatic synthesis of a series of random copolyesters by ring-opening polymerization of unsaturated rnacrolactones like globalide and ambrettolide with 1,5-dioxepan-2-one (DXO) and 4-methyl caprolactone (4MeCL) was investigated. C-13 NMR diad analysis confirmed the randomness of copolymers irrespective of the comonomer ratios. Thermal investigation showed that incorporating the comonomers lowered the melting points of the polymers as compared with the macrolactone homopolymers. The decrease was dependent on the comonomer ratio. The unsaturated copolymers were thermally cross-linked using dicumyl peroxide, which resulted in completely amorphous insoluble networks. It was found that 10% incorporation of the unsaturated macolactone was sufficient to obtain a gel content of 95 wt %. Preliminary degradation tests confirm that the cross-linked copolymers are enzymatically degradable and that the incorporation of hydrophilic comonomers like DXO enhances degradation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)837-843
JournalBiomacromolecules
Volume12
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2011

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