Fast and Convenient Synthesis of Amine-Terminated Polylactide as a Macroinitiator for -Benzyloxycarbonyl-L-Lysine-N-Carboxyanhydrides

Amine-terminated poly (L-lactide) (NH2-PLLA) with various chain lengths were successfully synthesized by sequential tert-butyl-N-(3-hydroxypropyl) carbamate initiated bulk ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L-lactide (L-LA) in the presence of Stannous(II) 2-ethylhexanoate (Sn(Oct)2) and deprotection of the N-tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) group at the end of the polymer chain. The polymers obtained were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, and GPC method. NH2-PLLA thus prepared was used to initiate the polymerization of ω-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine-N-carboxyanhydride (Lys (Z)-NCA), and the result confirmed the high nucleophilicity of the terminal amine group. This method was not only suitable for the preparation of low molecular weight NH2-PLLA, but also quite efficient in the synthesis of high molecular weight samples.