FAST-ATOM-BOMBARDMENT IN THE STRUCTURAL IDENTIFICATION OF INTERMEDIATES IN THE HYDROLYTIC DEGRADATION OF POLYPHOSPHAZENES

Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry was employed in a study related to the hydrolytic degradation of alanine ethyl ester- and imidazole-substituted polyphosphazenes, to be used as matrices for drug release. Some intermediates were identified and their structural assignment was accomplished by means of mass-analysed ion kinetic energy data. All the detected species show the same phosphazene skeleton, consisting of a P4N3 chain, with an increasing number of alanine ethyl ester substituents, and no evidence was found for the presence of imidazole bound to the polymer backbone.