Biodegradable polymers with functionalities are a powerful tool for creating high-valued biomedical devices, especially in so-called nanomedicine, smart biomaterials, and regenerative medicine, for which are required to equip at least biocompatibility as well as biodegradability. Chemically synthesized biodegradable polymers such as aliphatic polyesters, polycarbonates, and poly(amino acid)s are often prepared by ring-opening polymerization of the corresponding cyclic monomers. Therefore, introducing a functional group, if necessary, is performed at the stage of monomer synthesis in most cases. Six-membered cyclic carbonates have drawn attention as a promising monomer platform for functional biodegradable polymers due to stability in ambient condition and diverse accessibility to the functionalization. In particular, several synthetic routes have been reported regarding the cyclic carbonates conjugating functional substituents with ester and amide linkers. The monomers called MTC-XRs are derived from bis(2,2-methyloyl)propionic acid (bis-MPA) known as an affordable building block of biocompatible dendrimers. The synthetic pathway of MTC-XRs must include two principal reactions that are a coupling of the carboxyl group of bis-MPA to an alcohol or amine and a carbonylative cyclization of the diol.    We recently developed a new alternative pathway of producing MTC-XRs that is straightforward, easily accessible, economically feasible, and somewhat green. Recent progress on application of poly(MTC-XR)s to tissue engineering will also be discussed.

Facile and practical route to a versatile intermediate of substituted cyclic carbonates offering diverse smart biomaterials

248th National Meeting (2014)

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