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Updated: May 9, 2026

Microwave-assisted Functionalization of Poly(ethylene glycol) and On-resin Peptides for Use in Chain Polymerizations and Hydrogel Formation
Published on: October 29, 2013
GRGDS-Functionalized Poly(lactide)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) Copolymers: Combining Thiol-Ene Chemistry with
Dorothee E Borchmann1, Niels Ten Brummelhuis, Marcus Weck
1Molecular Design Institute and Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY 10003, United States.
Abstract:
A tri(ethylene glycol)-containing lactide analogue was synthesized via thiol-ene chemistry between a bi-functional triethylene glycol and allyl lactide. Subsequent tin-octoate-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization yielded well-defined poly(lactide)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) copolymers with molecular weights of 6000 g/mol and polydispersity indices of 1.6. The tri(ethylene glycol) chains along the copolymers contain azide termini that are capable of 'click'-type postpolymerization functionalization. The utility of this strategy was demonstrated via successful Staudinger ligation to install the Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (GRGDS) peptide.
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