SYNTHESIS OF DEGRADABLE COPOLYMERS BY RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION

Hydrolysable copolymers made from different cyclic monomers have been studied. The monomers involved are 1,5-dioxepan-2-one (DXO), L-dilactide, 1,3-dioxan-2-one (TMC), oxepan-2,7-dione (AA) and oxepan-2-one (epsilon-CL). The hydrolysis of the DXO/L-dilactide copolymer showed great differences in degradation rate depending on composition. A statistical copolymer made from TMC and epsilon-CL was amorphous with a glass transition temperature of -48-degrees-C. TMC and AA could form a blockcopolymer with n-BuLi as initiator in toluene, 0-degrees-C.