An organocatalytic route to functional and biodegradable hydrogels

POLY 538

Fredrik Nederberg, fredrikn@us.ibm.com1, Russell C. Pratt, rcpratt@us.ibm.com1, Andrew F. Mason, andymas@us.ibm.com1, Robert M. Waymouth, waymouth@stanford.edu2, and James L. Hedrick, hedrick@almaden.ibm.com3. (1) IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120, (2) Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, (3) IBM Research, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Rd, San Jose, CA 95120
The present report advances the scope of mild organic catalysis such that cross linking and hydrogel formation is achieved. Functional cyclic carbonates promote the reaction when introduced and ring-opened at the chain-ends of existing macromolecules. A model for the cross-linking has identified monomer concentration dependent reaction regimes. Kinetic control was obtained by introducing a co-monomer and thereby increasing the overall monomer concentration. The result opens a new, general, and simple route to functional hydrogels, or cross-linkable materials, employing carbonates and organic catalysis as key components.
 

Scaffolds and Matrices for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Applications
8:30 AM-11:40 AM, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Westin Boston Waterfront -- Grand Ballroom B, Oral

Division of Polymer Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007