Highly Selective Interfacial Route to Eight-Functional Sucrose Methacrylate for Biocompatible Scaffold Fabrication

The synthesis of reactive sucrose derivatives is of significant interest for the development of novel biocompatible polymers. In this study, an octa-substituted sucrose derivative containing isocyanate groups was synthesized via a urethane-forming reaction carried out in an aprotic solvent at the phase interface. This approach exhibits high selectivity and provides a target product yield of up to 60%. Subsequently, using the same reaction mechanism, the isocyanate derivative was converted into an octa-functional methacrylate derivative capable of forming three-dimensional cross-linked networks. The structures of both the intermediate and final products were confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, and mass spectrometry. The sucrose-based prepolymer was further evaluated in the formation of cross-linked structures for potential application as bone-substituting implants. Using various photocuring techniques, including two-photon 3D printing, both plates and microstructured scaffolds were fabricated. These structures exhibited high thermal stability, elastic properties comparable to those of bone tissue, and no toxic effects on cells.