Beyond nylon 6: polyamides via ring opening polymerization of designer lactam monomers for biomedical applications

Ring opening polymerization (ROP) of lactams is a highly efficient and versatile method to synthesize polyamides. Within the last ten years, significant advances in polymerization methodology and monomer diversity are ushering in a new era of polyamide chemistry. We begin with a discussion of polyme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChemical Society reviews Vol. 51; no. 19; pp. 8258 - 8275
Main Authors Varghese, Maria, Grinstaff, Mark W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Royal Society of Chemistry 03.10.2022
Subjects
Amides
Anti-Infective Agents
Antiinfectives and antibacterials
Biocompatible Materials
Biomedical materials
Caprolactam - analogs & derivatives
Cell adhesion
Chemists
Composition
Lactams - chemistry
Monomers
Nylon 6
Nylons - chemistry
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Polyamide resins
Polymerization
Polymers
Ring opening polymerization
Stereochemistry
Substrates
Synthesis
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Summary:Ring opening polymerization (ROP) of lactams is a highly efficient and versatile method to synthesize polyamides. Within the last ten years, significant advances in polymerization methodology and monomer diversity are ushering in a new era of polyamide chemistry. We begin with a discussion of polymerization techniques including the most widely used anionic ring opening polymerization (AROP), and less prevalent cationic ROP and enzyme-catalyzed ROP. Next, we describe new monomers being explored for ROP with increased functionality and stereochemistry. We emphasize the relationships between composition, structure, and properties, and how chemists can control composition and structure to dictate a desired property or performance. Finally, we discuss biomedical applications of the synthesized polyamides, specifically as biomaterials and pharmaceuticals, with examples to include as antimicrobial agents, cell adhesion substrates, and drug delivery scaffolds.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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M.V. performed the literature search and background analysis. M.V. and M.W.G. wrote the manuscript.
Author Contributions
ISSN:0306-0012
1460-4744
DOI:10.1039/d1cs00930c