α-Aldehyde Terminally Functional Methacrylic Polymers from Living Radical Polymerization: Application in Protein Conjugation 'Pegylation'

摘要

We have described the synthesis of new α-aldehyde-terminated poly(methoxyPEG)methacrylates obtained via Cu(Ⅰ) mediated living radical polymerization and their application for the conjugation of proteins using lysozyme as a model. Living radical polymerization with a functional initiator leads to pure monofunc-tionalized products with absence of difunctional impurities which can lead to unwanted proteins cross-linking. This method appears to be very general and may be extended to many proteins and most of the monomers amenable to metal-catalyzed living radical polymerization. Future work will focus on investigation of proteins where biological activity is expected to be retained following conjugation.