WATER-SOLUBLE POLYAMIDES AS POTENTIAL-DRUG CARRIERS .7. SYNTHESIS OF POLYMERS CONTAINING INTRACHAIN-TYPE OR EXTRACHAIN-TYPE AMINE LIGANDS BY INTERFACIAL POLYMERIZATION

Aliphatic polyamides comprising poly(ethylene oxide) chain segments of various lengths, designed for use as drug carriers, are synthesized b y interfacial polymerization of succinyl chloride with the two Jeffami ne types ED-900 and ED-2001, formally described by the supplier as O,O '-bis(2-aminopropyl)poly(ethylene glycol) 800 and O,O'-bis(2-aminoprop yl)poly(ethylene glycol) 1900. Copolyamides comprising both short-chai n diamine and Jeffamine segments are similarly prepared, as are polyam ides made up of cystine and diamine segments. The polymerizations are performed in a two-phase methylene chloride-water system at temperatur es near or below 0-degrees-C. The product polymers, crudely fractionat ed by staged aqueous-phase dialysis at an ultimate molecular-mass cut- off bf 25000, are collected after freeze-drying as water-soluble resin s or solids and are characterized microanalytically and by H-1 NMR spe ctroscopy. Inherent viscosities are in the range of 10-20 ml g-l. The drug-binding potential of a representative target polymer is probed by the covalent anchoring of a ferrocene compound used as a drug model, giving a water-soluble polymer-ferrocene conjugate.