Access to Highly Functional and Polymerizable Carbonate-Drug Conjugates

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Organic Synthesis
• Materials Science

Background:

• Cyclic carbonates are versatile building blocks in polymer synthesis.
• Drug conjugation to polymers is a key strategy for advanced therapeutics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel six-membered cyclic carbonate monomers functionalized with drug molecules.
• To investigate the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of these monomers.
• To explore the potential of the resulting functional polycarbonates for drug delivery applications.

Main Methods:

• Esterification was used to link drug molecules to cyclic carbonate precursors.
• Infrared (IR) and 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were employed for structural characterization.
• Ring-opening polymerization (ROP) was performed to synthesize functional polycarbonates.

Main Results:

• Two types of functionalized six-membered cyclic carbonate monomers were successfully synthesized in good yields.
• The synthesized monomers exhibited characteristic spectroscopic fingerprints confirming their structures.
• Controlled ROP yielded functional polycarbonates with molecular weights up to 10 kg/mol.
• The resulting polycarbonates demonstrated controllable functionality and tunable drug-to-carbonate ratios.

Conclusions:

• This study presents an adaptive synthetic approach for novel drug-functionalized cyclic carbonates.
• These monomers serve as precursors for advanced polycarbonate-drug macromolecules.
• The developed materials hold promise for applications in drug delivery systems.