Synthesizing new carbohydrate-based polymers that are chiral and structurally well-defined is an important goal for biomaterials research.  Robust methods will allow some of the structural complexity present in natural polysaccharides to be incorporated into chemically synthesized materials.  Building on our recent success of preparing chiral, controlled molecular weight poly-amido-saccharides via the anionic ring-opening polymerization of a �-lactam sugar monomer, we report the synthesis and characterization of alkyl ether derivatives.  Alkyl ether derivatives of natural polysaccharides such cellulose have been utilized in a variety of biomedical applications.  The alkyl groups are installed on the monomer before polymerization, and therefore greater structural control is available than with the alkylation procedures used on naturally derived polysaccharides.  Alkyl ether derivatized polymers are more hydrophobic than the original polymers containing the free alcohols, and therefore may lend themselves to biomaterials applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Synthesis and characterization of alkyl ether derivatives of poly-amido-saccharides

244th National Meeting (2012)

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