Amino Acid Based Epoxy-Poly(Ester Amide)s—A New Class of Functional Biodegradable Polymers: Synthesis and Chemical Transformations

A new class of biodegradable functional polymers – epoxy-poly(ester amide)s (EPEAs), was synthesized for the first time on the basis of naturally occurring α-amino acids, fatty diols and cis- and trans-epoxysuccinic acids. The syntheses were conducted via both solution Active Polycondensation and Interfacial Polycondensation using, accordingly, either activated di-p-nitrophenyl esters or dichlorides of cis- and trans-epoxysuccinic acids as bis-electrophilic monomers. Di-p-toluenesulfonic acid salts of bis-(L-phenylalanine)-1,6-hexylene and bis-(L-leucine)-1,6-hexylene diesters were used in both cases as bis-nucleophilic counter-partners. High-molecular-weight polymers (Mw up to 67.000) with desirable material properties were obtained via solution polycondensation using di-p-nitrophenyl-trans-epoxy succinate. The EPEAs were chemically modified further under mild conditions: oxirane groups along the backbone were reacted with both nucleophilic and electrophilic reagents, and also subjected to thermal and ch...