Synthesis and characterization of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone-alt-maleic anhydride): Conjugation with bovine serum albumin

Alternate N-vinyl pyrrolidone/maleic anhydride (NVPMA) copolymers were obtained by radical solution polymerization in dioxane with various MA contents in the monomer feed. The conversion of each monomer was monitored by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR), and the kinetics investigation showed that both monomers had identical polymerization rates if both monomers were present in the reaction mixture. The presence of excess NVP in the polymerization medium increased the kinetics of the polymerization and the molar masses of the resulting polymers. This increase was attributed to a cosolvent effect due to NVP, which is a better solvent for the polymer than dioxane. The hydrolysis rate constant of the polymers increased with pH, and NVPMA copolymers were more prone to hydrolysis (by a factor 10) than the methyl vinyl ether ones. Finally, the immobilization of bovin serum albumin (BSA) was investigated. A 25 mM phosphate buffer (pH 5.5) was the best medium to covalently bind 5 BSA molecules onto a 29 kDa NVPMA copolymer and 13 BSA molecules onto a 58 kDa sample, with grafting efficiencies > 90%. Noncovalent interactions with the hydrolyzed form of the polymer and BSA occured at pHs lower than the isoelectric point of BSA, and the resulting complexes were insoluble in water. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 3327–3337, 2001