2019, Folini, Jenny, Huang, Chao-Hung, Anderson, James C., Meier, Wolfgang P., Gaitzsch, Jens

Responsive and biodegradable nanoparticles are essential for functional drug delivery systems. We herein report the first pH sensitive polyester from radical ring-opening polymerisation of novel amine-bearing cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs). The CKAs were synthesised via an intermediate carbonate and the resulting polyesters showed a pKa around pH 6. Together with an initial application in biodegradable nanoparticles, they open the pathway for a new generation of functional polyesters.