Biomedical Applications of Carbohydrate-based Polyurethane: From Biosynthesis to Degradation

The foremost common natural polymers are carbohydrate-based polymers or polysaccharides, having a long chain of monosaccharide or disaccharide units linked together via glycosidic linkage to form a complex structure. There are several uses of carbohydrate-based polymers in the biomedical sector due to their attractive features, including less toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, high reactivity, availability, and relative inexpensiveness. The aim of our study was to explore the synthetic approaches for the preparation of numerous carbohydrate-based polyurethanes (PUs) and their wide range of pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. The data summarized in this study show that the addition of carbohydrates in the structural skeleton of PUs not only improves their suitability but also affects their applicability for use in biological applications. Carbohydrate- based units are incorporated into the PUs, which is the most convenient method for the synthesis of novel biocompatible and biodegradable carbohydrate-based PUs for use in various biomedical applications.