Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, The Netherlands.
Biomater Sci. 2024 Oct 22;12(21):5481-5490. doi: 10.1039/d4bm00928b.
Many applications of biomaterials require hydrophilic polymers as building blocks, including hydrogels and nanomedicinal devices. Besides enabling sufficient swelling properties in aqueous environments, hydrophilic polymers provide hydration layers, which are considered a major requirement when designing non-fouling surfaces and materials. For the last few decades, polyethylene glycol has been seen as the gold standard for such applications. However, reports on its stability and immunogenicity have urged chemists to identify alternatives with comparable or superior properties. In addition to biopolymers, zwitterionic polymers have gained increasing attention by effectively offering an overall charge-neutral scaffold capable of forming strong hydration layers. Driven by an enhanced understanding of the structure-property relationship of zwitterionic materials, poly(ylides) have emerged as a new class of hydrophilic and charge-neutral polymers. By having the negative charge adjacent to the positive charge, ylides offer not only a minimal dipole moment but also maintain their overall charge-neutral nature. Despite some early reports on their synthesis during the 1980s, polymeric ylides were largely overlooked as a class of polymers, and their utility as unique hydrophilic building blocks for the design of biomaterials and nanomedicinal tools remained elusive. In recent years, several groups have reported -oxide and carbon-centered ylide-based polymers as highly effective building blocks for the design of antifouling materials and nanomedicines. Here, by reviewing recent progress and understanding of structure-property relationships, arguments are provided explaining why polymeric ylides should be classified as a standalone class of hydrophilic polymers. Consequently, the author concludes that the term 'poly(ylide)' or 'polymeric ylides' should be routinely used to adequately describe this emerging class of polymers.
许多生物材料的应用都需要亲水性聚合物作为构建块，包括水凝胶和纳米药物设备。除了在水相环境中具有足够的溶胀性能外，亲水性聚合物还提供水化层，这被认为是设计非粘性表面和材料的主要要求。在过去的几十年中，聚乙二醇一直被视为此类应用的金标准。然而，关于其稳定性和免疫原性的报道促使化学家寻找具有可比或更优性能的替代品。除了生物聚合物外，两性离子聚合物由于能够提供有效的整体电荷中性支架，形成强水化层，因此越来越受到关注。由于对两性离子材料的结构-性能关系有了更深入的了解，聚（亚胺）已经成为一类新的亲水性和电荷中性聚合物。由于负电荷与正电荷相邻，亚胺不仅提供最小的偶极矩，而且保持其整体电荷中性性质。尽管在 20 世纪 80 年代就有关于它们合成的早期报道，但聚合亚胺作为一类聚合物在很大程度上被忽视了，它们作为设计生物材料和纳米药物工具的独特亲水性构建块的用途仍然难以捉摸。近年来，有几个小组报道了 -氧化物和碳中心亚胺基聚合物作为设计抗污材料和纳米药物的高效构建块。在这里，通过回顾最近的进展和对结构-性能关系的理解，提出了一些论点，解释了为什么聚合亚胺应该被归类为一类独立的亲水性聚合物。因此，作者得出结论，术语“聚（亚胺）”或“聚合亚胺”应该被常规使用，以充分描述这一新兴的聚合物类别。
