Glycopolymers are synthetic analogues of naturally occurring polysaccharides that contain a carbon-carbon backbone with hydrophilic saccharide pendant moieties. Due to their inherent biocompatibility and extreme hydrophilicity, glycomonomers have been utilized in the design and fabrication of hydrogel networks that can be applied in biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems and biodegradable scaffolds. Hydrogel network structure and properties are influenced by bulk water absorbency, as well as the structure or type of water within the network. Water molecules within hydrogel networks are defined as free, restricted and bound, which vary in relation to the degree of hydrogen bonding within the polymeric network. This research focuses on the homopolymerization of two acrylamide based glycomonomers with pendant glucose (GlcEAm) and galactose (GalEAm) moieties, shown in Figure 1, using UV-initiated free radical polymerization in water. Through this study, the extent of conversion and the corresponding molecular weight of linear homopolymers comprised of GlcEAm and GalEAm is evaluated via <sup>1</sup>H-NMR and dynamic light scattering, respectively. The information pertaining to the polymerization parameters elucidated through this study will be used in the design and fabrication of crosslinked glycopolymer networks.

UV-Initiated free-radical polymerization of acrylamide based glucose and galactose glycomonomers

251st National Meeting (2016)

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