Thiol-enevs.ADMET: a complementary approach to fatty acid-based biodegradable polymers

Abstract

The increasing need for biodegradable polymers in medical applications, attempts to use renewable resources instead of fossil resources for material synthesis, and highly efficient polymerization methods that meet the requirements of green chemistry draw attention to fatty acid-based biodegradable polymers. In the present study, we have prepared a set of anhydride and ester functional biodegradable polymers from undec-10-enoic acidviaADMET polymerization reactions and/or thiol-ene click reactions. The efficiency of these polymerization methods and the thermal, as well as hydrolytic, stability properties of the polymers were evaluated and compared to each other. The results reveal that the polymers exhibit melting points in the range 44–58 °C, which is higher than physiological temperature, and that polyanhydrides degrade considerably faster in solution than structurally similar polyesters.