Biodegradable poly(ester amide)s - A remarkable opportunity for the biomedical area: Review on the synthesis, characterization and applications

Poly(ester amide)s have emerged in the last years as an important family of biodegradable synthetic polymers. These polymers present both ester and amide linkages in their structure and they gather in the same entity the good degradability of polyesters with the good thermo-mechanical properties of polyamides. Particularly, poly(ester amide)s containing alpha-amino acids have risen as important materials in the biomedical field. The presence of the alpha-amino acid contributes to better cell-polymer interactions, allows the introduction of pendant reactive groups, and enhances the overall biodegradability of the polymers. This review summarizes the recent advances in the development of alpha-amino acid based poly(ester amide)s, the main synthetic pathways used in their preparation along with their main biomedical applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.