Polyanhydrides additional chemistries

The chemistry of polyanhydrides is by no means limited to the categories discussed in the preceding sections. A brief review of some of the additional chemistries that have recently been synthesized follows with a mention of their potential for application in drug delivery. 

Jiang and Zhu (2001) became interested in synthesizing additional polyanhydrides with fluorescence after their discovery of the fluorescent properties of PCPS. They synthesized the series of poly(anhydride-co-amide)s poly p-[carboxyphenoxy(ethyl/propyl/butyl)formamido]benzoic anhydride (PCEFB, PCPFB, and PCBFB) (Jiang et al., 2001c). Only the ethyl polymer emitted strong fluorescence, which was consistent with their previous study of the poly(anhydride-co-ester)s of similar chemistry... 

The past two decades have produced a revival of interest in the synthesis of polyanhydrides for biomedical applications. These materials offer a unique combination of properties that includes hydrolytically labile backbone, hydrophobic bulk, and very flexible chemistry that can be combined with other functional groups to develop polymers with novel physical and chemical properties. This combination of properties leads to erosion kinetics that is primarily surface eroding and offers the potential to stabilize macromolecular drugs and extend release profiles from days to years. The microstructural characteristics and inhomogeneities of multi-component systems offer an additional dimension of drug release kinetics that can be exploited to tailor drug release profiles. 

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