Facile preparation of polyester-polyglutamate diblock copolymers through regio-selective polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride

Abstract

Polyester-polypeptide block copolymers have shown great potentials as biomaterials by combining the properties and advantages of both polymers. The preparation of the hybrid materials, however, is limited by the tedious protection/deprotection of chain-ends. Herein, we report the facile preparation of polyester-polyglutamate from bifunctional aminoalkyl alcohols, which regio-selectively initiate the polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) from the amino groups with negligible interference by the hydroxyl groups. The hydroxyl-capping polypeptide marcoinitiators were then used for the preparation of diblock copolymers by skipping the conventional protection/deprotection steps. We believe that this work provides new insights in NCA stability against hydroxyl molecules, allowing for the preparation of well-defined polyester-polyglutamates in an efficient manner.