Non-toxic catalysts for ring-opening polymerizations of biodegradable polymers at room temperature for biohybrid materials
23.12.2013
Hege CS, Schiller SM
Green Chem. 2014;16:1410-1416
Biodegradable biopolymers are versatile materials with a wide range of applications including suture, scaffolds, growth chambers and matrix materials for tissue-engineering and regenerative medicine. Their synthesis is usually based on tin-salts at high temperatures. Strategies to replace tin are interesting due to the toxicity of tin for aquatic organisms and potentially problematic effects in higher organisms. In the framework of this study we investigate nontoxic iron catalysts and their potential to facilitate ring-opening polymerizations (ROP) at room temperature.
