Photo-crosslinkable polymers have a great potential for the delivery of sensitive drugs. They allow preparation of drug releasing devices by photo-crosslinking, thus avoiding high processing temperatures. In this study, the hydrolysis behavior and drug release of three different photo-crosslinkable poly(ether anhydride)s and one poly(ester anhydride) were investigated. Three-arm poly(ethylene glycol) or polycaprolactone was reacted with succinic anhydride to obtain carboxylated macromers, and further functionalized with methacrylic anhydride to form methacrylated marcromers with anhydride linkages. The synthetized macromers were used to prepare photo-crosslinked matrices with different hydrolytic degradation times for active agent release purposes.

The hydrolysis was clearly pH-sensitive: polymer networks degraded slowly in acidic conditions, and degradation rate increased as the pH shifted towards basic conditions. Drug release was studied with two water-soluble model drugs lidocaine (234mol/g) and vitamin B₁₂ (1355g/mol). Vitamin B₁₂ was released mainly due to polymer network degradation, whereas smaller molecule lidocaine was released also through diffusion and swelling of polymer. Only a small amount of vitamin B₁₂ was released in acidic conditions (pH 1.3 and pH 2.1). These polymers have potential in colon targeted drug delivery as the polymer could protect sensitive drugs from acidic conditions in stomach, and the drug would be released as the conditions change closer to neutral pH in the intestine.

可光交联的聚合物在传递敏感药物方面具有巨大潜力。它们允许通过光交联制备药物释放装置，从而避免了较高的加工温度。在这项研究中，研究了三种不同的可光交联的聚（醚酐）和一种聚（酯酐）的水解行为和药物释放。使三臂聚乙二醇或聚己内酯与琥珀酸酐反应以获得羧化的大分子单体，并进一步用甲基丙烯酸酐官能化以形成具有酸酐键的甲基丙烯酸酯化的大分子单体。合成的大分子单体用于制备具有不同水解降解时间的光交联基质，以释放活性剂。

水解显然对pH敏感：聚合物网络在酸性条件下缓慢降解，并且随着pH向碱性条件转移，降解速率增加。用两种水溶性模型药物利多卡因（234mol / g）和维生素B ₁₂（1355g / mol）研究了药物释放。维生素B _12的释放主要是由于聚合物网络的降解，而小分子利多卡因也通过聚合物的扩散和溶胀而释放。仅少量的维生素B ₁₂在酸性条件（pH 1.3和pH 2.1）下释放。这些聚合物具有结肠靶向药物输送的潜力，因为该聚合物可以保护敏感药物免受胃中酸性条件的影响，并且随着条件的变化接近肠道中性pH值，药物将被释放。