Synthesis of Poly(ethylene oxide sulfide) with Large Molecular Weight by O_2 Gas Oxidation

摘要

Poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG) is widely used in many fields (drug delivery,hydrogelation,protein PEGylation,etc.).However,its usage in a controlled release system was limited because its backbone is nondegradable.Many degradable PEG molecules were developed to overcome this weakness,including our recent work concerning poly(ethylene oxide sulfide)(PEOS).The PEOS polymer consists of many ethylene oxide monomers linked by the biodegradable disulfide bonds.The disulfide bonds are degraded into thiols responding to the reduction potential in cytosol developed by the high concentration (5 mM) of a reduced form of gultathione.On the contrary,disulfides are very stable in the cell exterior,the oxidative environment.These characteristics have been used in the development of polymers which can be degraded after uptake into the cell.