MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SYNTHESIS OF CHITOSAN-OLIGO(CAPROLACTONE) GRAFT COPOLYMERS FOR DRUG DELIVERY APPLICATIONS

QUINTANA S.; GLISONI R.J.; MOGLIONI A.; SOSNIK A.

Athens, Grecia

Congreso; 5to BBBB International Conference; 2013

INTRODUCTION Graft copolymerization of different biodegradable and biocompatible polymers using chitosan (CS) molecules as template is an attractive strategy to develop novel hybrid copolymers that capitalize on the advantages of each component, while blurring their drawbacks. In this work, we investigated the grafting of E-caprolactone (E-CL) onto CS via microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization reactions, in the presence of methanesulfonic acid (MeSO3H) as solvent and catalyst. Due to the protective protonation of amine groups of CS in acidic medium, grafting of E-CL took place mainly on hydroxyl groups of CS. Moreover, these amphiphilic graft copolymers have been evaluated as a platform for the development of mucoadhesive nanomaterials for biomedical applications.