Naturally occurring polysaccharides can be modified to offer a versatile set of properties for biomedical applications. However, synthetic glycopolymers based on monosaccharides can be designed to target desired properties for drug delivery, protein preservation or protein binding. This study aims to elucidate the effect of the glycopolymer architecture (linear vs hyperbranched) on the polymer properties and to optimize the polymerization mechanism to obtain the desired molecular weights. We used an alternative strategy to synthesize acrylate inimers containing mannose and glucose that homopolymerize5 using self-condensing vinyl polymerizations (SCVP). Two atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) mechanisms were performed (activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) and simultaneous normal and reverse initiated (SN&RI ATRP)) to produce linear and hyperbranched glycopolymers with number-average molecular weight (Mn) ranging from Mn = 10 kDa to 42 kDa, and Mn = 44 kDa to 182 kDa, respectively. The overall yields for the polymerizations ranged from 40% to 70%. The effect of the polymer architecture with respect to the hydrodynamic volume was determined, by comparying the molecular weight obtained using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), to the absolute molecular weight obtained using light scattering.

Synthesis of hyperbranched glycopolymers using an alternative bromoinimer approach

252nd National Meeting (2016)

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