Wne. Vandijkwolthuis et al., SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND POLYMERIZATION OF GLYCIDYL METHACRYLATE DERIVATIZED DEXTRAN, Macromolecules, 28(18), 1995, pp. 6317-6322
Glycidyl methacrylate derivatized dextran (dex-GMA) was synthesized by
coupling of GMA to dextran in the presence of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)py
ridine using DMSO as an aprotic solvent and characterized by GPC, FTIR
, and NMR. The structure of the product was established with H-1 and C
H-COSY NMR. The degree of substitution, as determined by NMR, can be c
ontrolled by varying the molar dextran. Almost quantitative incorporat
ion of GMA (>90%) was established. Hydrogels were prepared by radical
polymerization of aqueous solutions of dex-GMA, using ammonium peroxyd
isulfate (APS) and N,N,N'N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) as the
initiating system. The polymerization rate, as determined by FTIR anal
ysis, was dependent on the APS, the TEMED, and the dex-GMA concentrati
on. By proper selection of the polymerization conditions, hydrogels co
uld be obtained in which more than 95% of the methacrylate groups had
reacted within 20 min.