This work describes
a one-pot synthesis of dendrite-like
hyperbranched
polyglycerols (HPGs) via a ring-opening multibranching polymerization
(ROMBP) process using a bis(5,7-dichloro-2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)methyl
aluminum complex (
1
) as a catalyst and 1,1,1-tris(hydroxymethyl)propane/trimethylol
propane (TMP) as an initiator. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD)
analysis was used to elucidate the molecular structure of complex
1
. Inverse-gated (IG)
13
C NMR analysis of HPGs showed
degree of branching between 0.50 and 0.57. Gel permeation chromatography
(GPC) analysis of the HPG polymers provided low, medium, and high-molecular
weight (
M
n
) polymers ranging from 14 to
73 kDa and molecular weight distributions (
M
w
/
M
n
) between 1.16 and 1.35. The
obtained HPGs exhibited high wettability with water contact angle
between 18 and 21° and
T
g
ranging
between −39 and −55 °C. Notably, ancillary ligand-supported
aluminum complexes as catalysts for HPG polymerization reactions have
not been reported to date. The obtained HPG polymers in the presence
of the aluminum complex (
1
) can be used for various biomedical
applications. Here, nanocomposite electrospun fibers were fabricated
with synthesized HPG polymer. The nanofibers were subjected to cell
culture experiments to evaluate cytocompatibility behavior with L929
and MG63 cells. The cytocompatibility studies of HPG polymer and nanocomposite
scaffold showed high cell viability and spreading. The study results
concluded, synthesized HPG polymers and composite nanofibers can be
used for various biomedical applications.