Radiopaque polyurethanes with flexible iodine‐containing chain extender

Iodinated polyurethanes (IPUs) with radiopaque property were prepared using poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol, 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, and a novel chain extender. The chain extender, described as N-(1,3-dihydroxypropan-2-yl)-2,3,5-triiodobenzamide, was synthesized in two steps from 2-aminopropane-1,3-diol and 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid with a high yield. A thorough study on the chemical structure, mechanical properties, radiopacity, and physiological properties of the IPUs was conducted. It is revealed that with increasing content of chain extender, the molecular weights of IPUs decreased slightly while the tensile modulus and breaking strength of IPUs increased significantly, illustrating an excellent comprehensive performance. With iodine content high to about 16 wt %, the IPU sample is equal to the aluminum plate with the same thickness in X-ray radiopacity, meaning that the synthesized polyurethanes are promising as radiopaque materials. The oxidative degradation and cytotoxicity tests illustrated a good performance of stability and biocompatibility for the IPUs. It confirmed that the as-synthesized IPUs are promising for biomedicine applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42693.