Novel Biodegradable Polymer based on Low Molecular Weight Hydrolyzing Units

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2021Polymer scaffolds can be used to restore, maintain, or improve tissues and organs. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), also known as pHEMA, is a commonly used polymer in tissue engineering due to its versatility in application. A major problem is that pHEMA is non-degradable. pHEMA can be made degradable by crosslinkers and a degradable initiator. A previous study from the Ratner lab found that degradation products of pHEMA that are <5kDa are soluble in the environment of the body and can be cleared from the body. Building upon that study, we wanted to synthesize pHEMA with an even lower molecular weight. This paper focuses on synthesizing 2-bromoethyl 3-bromopropanoate to use as a bi-functional initiator for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) because it has an ester group between two organocarbon units and symmetric bromine leaving groups; the initiator was then used to synthesize symmetric, low molecular weight (