Macromolecular Engineering of Biodegradable Polyesters by Ring-Opening Polymerization and ‘Click’ Chemistry

✍ Scribed by Philippe Lecomte; Raphaël Riva; Christine Jérôme; Robert Jérôme

• Book ID: 102498605
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 300 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1022-1336
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.200800174

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Biodegradability makes aliphatic polyesters valuable candidates for biomaterials and environmentally friendly thermoplastics. Nevertheless, their chemical modification, which is mandatory for a series of potential applications, is usually a problem because it must be carried out under very mild conditions in order to prevent degradation by hydrolysis and/or transesterification from occurring. In this review, the copper(I)‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition, which is a click reaction, is shown to be very efficient to bypass these problems and to tailor the macromolecular architecture and functionality of those polyesters without facing undesired degradation reactions.

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