Investigating polymer degradation mechanisms enables the establishment of controlled degradation techniques for the development of sustainable and recyclable materials. Hydration can play a crucial role in controlling the hydrolysis of polymers. Here, ether-functionalized aliphatic polycarbonates (APCs) susceptible to nonenzymatic hydrolysis were developed for application as biocompatible biomaterials. Among these polymers, those grafted with 2-methoxyethyl and 3-methoxypropyl side chains via an amide group were highly wettable, strongly interacted with water, and experienced almost complete hydrolysis in phosphate-buffered saline over 30 days, which was attributed to the hydrogen bonding between water and the amide/methoxy groups. In an alkaline medium, all amide-linked APCs were completely hydrolyzed within 30 days, regardless of the side-chain structure. In contrast, the nonamide-linked APCs and a representative aliphatic polycarbonate, poly(trimethylene carbonate), were minimally degraded in the buffer and experienced <31% degradation under alkaline conditions. The APC with the 3-methoxypropyl side chain exhibited platelet adhesion properties comparable to those of ether-functionalized APCs previously reported as blood-compatible polymers. Thus, our results demonstrate the effects of an amide linker on the hydration and hydrolytic properties of APCs and can help establish new design concepts for degradable polymers.

研究聚合物降解机制可以建立受控降解技术，以开发可持续和可回收材料。水合作用在控制聚合物水解方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在此，开发了易于非酶水解的醚官能化脂肪族聚碳酸酯（APC），用作生物相容性生物材料。在这些聚合物中，通过酰胺基团接枝有2-甲氧基乙基和3-甲氧基丙基侧链的聚合物具有高度可湿性，与水相互作用强烈，并且在磷酸盐缓冲盐水中经过30天几乎完全水解，这归因于氢键水和酰胺/甲氧基之间。在碱性介质中，无论侧链结构如何，所有酰胺连接的 APC 在 30 天内完全水解。相比之下，非酰胺连接的 APC 和代表性脂肪族聚碳酸酯聚（三亚甲基碳酸酯）在缓冲液中降解程度最低，在碱性条件下降解率<31%。具有 3-甲氧基丙基侧链的 APC 表现出的血小板粘附特性与之前报道的作为血液相容性聚合物的醚官能化 APC 相当。因此，我们的结果证明了酰胺连接体对 APC 水合和水解性能的影响，有助于建立可降解聚合物的新设计概念。