Synthesis of Polyanhydrides for Drug Delivery

In an attempt to avoid the polymerization/depolymerization equilibrium that occurs during melt polycondensation, Albertsson and Lundmark (1988) also studied the irreversible reaction of adipic anhydride with ketene. However, they reported very little difference in molecular weights when two ketene syntheses were compared to melt polycondensation and ringopening polymerization using a zinc catalyst (Albertsson and Lundmark, 1988). 

---

Details first report on synthesis of aromatic polyanhydride (1909) aliphatic polyanhydrides were reported in 1930-1932 in 1983 polyanhydrides were studied for drug delivery ... 

Polyanhydrides form a class of surface-eroding polymers that have been extensively studied solely for biomedical applications. Although the first synthesis of polyanhydrides was reported as early as 1909, the low hydrolytic stability of aliphatic anhydrides coupled with the low molecular weight of many of these polymers barred them from any industrial application until 1980, when they were suggested as ideal candidates for drug-delivery applications. Various polymerization techniques have been developed for the synthesis of very-high-molecular-weight polymers. 

New Orleans, La., August 1999, p.888-9 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISATION OF POLYANHYDRIDE COPOLYMERS FOR CONTROLLED DRUG DELIVERY Sanders A J Li B Bieniarz C Harris F W Akron,University (ACS.Div.of Polymer Chemistry)... 

---