Preparation,characterization and degradation characteristics of polyanhydrides containing poly(ethylene glycol)

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segments were introduced into a polyanhydride main chain by copolymerization of terminal-carboxylated poly(ethylene glycol) with diacidic monomers (sebacic acid and trimellitylimidoglycine). IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy confirmed the copolymer structures. DSC analysis showed that these polyanhydrides have low T_g and low crystallinity. In vitro degradation tests indicated that introducing PEG segments accelerated the degradation rate of these polymers and the degradation duration could be manipulated from 3 days to 3 weeks. The pH of the environment caused by the polymer degradation was lower than 5.0; therefore, the polyanhydrides could be used as components of a newly designed pulsed-release device for peptide and protein delivery. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry