Synthesis and characterization of triblock copolymers of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(propylene fumarate)

Amphiphilic block copolymers were synthesized by transesterification of hydrophilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) and hydrophobic poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) and characterized. Four block copolymers were synthesized with a 2:1 mPEG:PPF molar ratio and mPEGs of molecular weights 570, 800, 1960, and 5190 and PPF of molecular weight 1570 as determined by NMR. The copolymers synthesized with mPEG of molecular weights 570 and 800 had 1.9 and 1.8 mPEG blocks per copolymer, respectively, as measured by NMR, representing an ABA-type block copolymer. The number of mPEG blocks of the copolymer decreased with increasing mPEG block length to as low as 1.5 mPEG blocks for copolymer synthesized with mPEG of molecular weight 5190. At a concentration range of 5-25 wt % in phosphate-buffered saline, copolymers synthesized with mPEG molecular weights of 570 and 800 possessed lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) between 40 and 45 degreesC and between 55 and 60 degreesC, respectively. Aqueous solutions of copolymer synthesized with mPEG 570 and 800 also experienced thermoreversible gelation. The sol-gel transition temperature was dependent on the sodium chloride concentration as well as the mPEG block length. The copolymer synthesized from mPEG 570 had a transition temperature between 40 and 20 degreesC with salt concentrations between 1 and 10 wt %, while the sol-gel transition temperatures of the copolymer synthesized from mPEG molecular weight 800 were higher in the range 75-30 degreesC with salt concentrations between 1 and 15 wt %. These novel thermoreversible copolymers are the first biodegradable copolymers with unsaturated double bonds along their macromolecular chain that can undergo both physical and chemical gelation and hold great promise for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.