Biomedical polymers, fatty acids

Fatty acids have been used previously in the development of polymers for biomedical applications as they are considered to be inert, inexpensive and biocompatible, as well as possessing low toxicity. This review focuses on use of different fatty acids for synthesis of injectable polymers for intended use as drug carriers. 

Fatty acids have been used previously in the development of polymers for biomedical applications as they are considered to be inert, inexpensive and biocompatible. The main fatty acids which are used as a base for synthesis of biomedical polymers (polyanhydrides) are stearic acid (/), erucic acid (C22 unsaturated fatty acid) dimer (2), bile acid dimer (i), ricinoleic acid 4) and other fatty acids (5), middle long carbon chain (C12 - 15) dibasic acids, such as dodecanedioic, brassylic acid, tetradecandioic acid and pentadecandioic acid (/). 

Fatty acid based biodegradable polymers have many biomedical applications. This short review focuses on controlled drug delivery using two classes of the polymers polyanhydrides and polyesters based on fatty acids as drug carriers. Different polymer types and compositions are summarized showing the potential of these polymers as drug carriers. 

Nonionic surfactants are one of the most important and largest surfactant groups. They are amphiphilic molecules composed, in most cases, of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blocks as the water-soluble fragment and fatty alcohols, fatty acids, alkylated phenol derivatives, or various synthetic polymers as the hydrophobic part [1], This class of surfactants is widely used as surface wetting agents, emulsifiers, detergents, phase-transfer agents, and solubilizers for diverse industrial and biomedical applications [2],... 

The biocompatible dimerized fatty acid (DFA)-based poly(aliphatic-aromatic ester) elastomers (PED) have been synthesized and studied for biomedical applications by El Fray et al. [194-200]. The design of nanostructured elastomeric biomaterials (mimicking biological materials) has been realized by using renewable resources, i.e., DFA. They are prepared by transesterification and polycondensation from the melt (see Section 7). The exceptional properties of DFA, e.g., excellent resistance to oxidative and thermal degradation, allow the preparation of PEDs without the use of thermal (often irritating) stabilizers. This is a particularly important feature making these polymers environmentally friendly and additive-free. What is equally important, by the use of the same method and stabilizer-free conditions, it was possible to prepare specially modified PED copolymers with an increased surface hydrophobicity. 

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