The synthesis and structural characterization of graft copolymers composed of γ-PGA backbone and oligoesters pendant chains

Abstract

© 2017 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.8b05393The novel copolymers composed of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) and oligoesters have been developed. The structures of the obtained copolymers including variety of end groups were determined at the molecular level with the aid of electrospray ionization multistage mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn). The fragmentation experiment performed for the selected sodium adducts of the copolymers confirmed that the developed methods lead to the formation of graft copolymers composed of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) backbone and oligoesters pendant chains. Moreover, it was established that fragmentation of selected sodium adducts of graft copolymers proceeded via random breakage of amide bonds along the backbone and ester bonds of the oligoesters pendant chains. Considering potential applications of the synthesized copolymers in the area of biomaterials, the hydrolytic degradation under laboratory conditions and in vitro cytotoxicity tests were performed. The ESI-MSn technique applied in this study has been proven to be a useful tool in structural studies of novel graft copolymers as well as their degradation products.This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (Decision No DEC-2013/11/N/ST5/01364