Biomaterials/Biocompatible Materials Research Reagents

Biomaterials are composed of classical materials such as metals, ceramics, organic materials dominated by polymers, or their composites. TCI mainly offers organic materials for biomaterials research.
We introduce reagents for biomaterials research like polymers, monomers or macromonomers as raw materials for polymers and gels; polymerization reagents for polymer synthesis; and lipids for drug delivery system (DDS) research.

Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) can help improve drug absorption, extend the effective lifetime of a drug in the body, and deliver the drug specifically to the affected area. A DDS can thus maximize the effect of drugs. Examples include prodrugs developed for improving drug solubility, absorbability and retention. In addition, macromolecular carriers have been actively investigated to deliver or target drugs to the affected area.

PEGylation, the process of conjugating polyethylene glycol (PEG) to molecules such as proteins and peptides, can improve the water solubility of target molecules. As a result, PEGylation can provide various benefits, including reduced aggregation, increased resistance to protease-mediated degradation, and improved stability.

Zwitterionic monomers contain both cationic and anionic groups in the same molecule, and are able to add superhydrophilic and/or antifouling features to the materials. Our product line-up includes a phosphobetaine monomer which has a biomembrane-mimetic phosphorylcholine group, sulfobetaine and carboxybetaine monomers, whose polymerizable functional groups are acrylate and methacrylate esters, acrylamides or methacrylamides. In addition to monofunctional monomers, we also have many bifunctional monomers suitable as cross-linkers in our catalog.

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is a type of controlled radical polymerization technique. ATRP employs a transition metal catalyst to activate an alkyl halide initiator (R-X), generating a radical (R•) to control polymerization. We offer a variety of ATRP initiators designed for synthesizing high-performance biomaterials with functional groups that readily undergo terminal modification before or after radical polymerization.