Synthesis of novel copolymer: Poly(p-dioxanone-co-l-phenylalanine)

In order to expand the application of poly(p-dioxanone) or PPDO in biomedical area, a series of novel copolymers were synthesized successfully by one-step, melted copolymerization of p-dioxanone (PDO) and l-phenylalanine N-carboxyanhydride (l-Phe-NCA) monomers. With the in-feed molar ratio of l-Phe-NCA/PDO equal to 1/20, the conversions of the two kinds of monomers were calculated from 1H NMR. The average molecular weight and polydispersity of the copolymer increase with the increasing reaction time and catalyst concentration. However, the conversions of the two kinds of monomers did not change with the reaction conditions. A three-step mechanism is presented and proved by high resolution 1H NMR and IR spectrums.

Graphical abstractA novel copolymer composed of p-dioxanone (PDO) and l-phenylalanine (l-Phe) was synthesized successfully by one-step, melted copolymerization of PDO and l-phenylalanine N-carboxyanhydride. The mechanism of the copolymerization was investigated and confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide