Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Chemical Modifications Toward Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have attracted great interest in recent years in research due to their potential wide applicability as biomaterials. However, PHAs are very hydrophobic, degrade slowly under physiological conditions, and lack chemical functionalities. These factors restrict the scope of their applications in the biomedical field. In order to expand on the use of these materials, many other properties such as mechanical strength, surface features, amphiphilicity, and degradation rate have to be modified to match the requirements of specific applications. Chemical modifications to introduce functional groups add valuable attributes to PHAs that cannot be easily achieved by bioconversion processes. These chemically modified PHAs, possessing improved properties, can be utilized as multifunctional materials. In this review, well-established chemical modification methods of PHAs are summarized and discussed. Furthermore, the biomedical significance of the functionalized PHAs in different applications is also discussed.

Water soluble polyhydroxyalkanoates: future materials for therapeutic applications

“…4 In the other approach, hydroboration-oxidation reactions using the boranetetrahydrofuran (BH 3 -THF) complex were also used to covert PHOU with hydroxyl groups. 6 Enhanced hydrophilicity of PHOU has also recently been achieved by the conversion of epoxidized PHOU to the hydroxylated form in the presence of diethanol amine. 2b).…”

“…6 Although short chain diols rarely render a hydrophilic character to the hydrophobic PHAs, hydrophilic components such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly(propylene glycol) (PPG), poly(N-isopropylacylamide) (PNIPAAM) and poly(2dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) can be introduced into telechelic PHA macromonomers by copolymerization to form amphiphilic block copolymers with various architectures and functionalities. Some ester groups of the PHAs can be exchanged with an alcohol in the transesterification process to obtain a carboxylic end group and diol, quantitatively.…”

Poly(glycerol sebacate) biomaterial: synthesis and biomedical applications

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, applications involving these polymers are limited by their inferior mechanical properties and unsatisfactory compatibility with cells and tissues. The most commonly used biodegradable polymers are poly(lactic acid), polycaprolactone and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate).…”

Biodegradable Polymers: Medical Applications

“…These are linear polyesters synthesized by microbes as a fermentation product of lipids or sugars. Composed of β-hydroxy fatty acids, the side chains may vary from methyl to tridecyl (151)(152)(153). Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastics.…”