Monomers and Macromonomers [Biomaterials/Biocompatible Materials Research Reagents]

We present in this product category the monomers used for biomaterials research classified according to their chemical structures such as acrylic monomers, lactone monomers, dithiol monomers, and diisocyanate monomers.

Among them acrylic monomers contain largest number of products and are often utilized for biomaterials or biocompatible materials research, using conventional radical polymerization or controlled radical polymerization. In addition to the common monomers for biomaterials research including 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (= HEMA) (Product No. M0085)¹⁾ and N-isopropylacrylamide (= NIPAAm) (Product No. I0401).²⁾ We have zwitterionic monomers or monomers with reactive functional groups useful for conjugation with proteins or peptides present in our catalog.

Zwitterionic monomers contain both cationic and anionic groups in the same molecule. Common zwitterionic monomer structures include phosphobetaines, sulfobetaines, and carboxybetaines.^3,4) One of the phosphobetaine zwitterionic monomers, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (= MPC) (Product No. M2005)⁵⁾ is the most studied zwitterionic monomer and has been applied to toiletries or soft contact lenses.⁴⁾ We offer 3-[[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethylammonio]propane-1-sulfonate (= SPE) (Product No. M1971)⁶⁾ as a sulfobetaine monomer, 3-[[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethylammonio]propionate (= CBMA) (Product No. M2359)⁷⁾ and 3-[(3-acrylamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]propanoate (= CBAA) (Product No. A3279)⁷⁾ as carboxybetaine monomers.

Zwitterionic polymers synthesized from its zwitterionic monomers are expected to be applied to surface coating materials in medical devices including stents, catheters, and membranes for dialysis.^4,8,9,10,11) Research towards drug delivery system (DDS) have been increasing lately; e.g. application as nanomicellar drug carriers,¹²⁾ as coating materials for nanoparticles with prolonged blood circulation,¹³⁾ and as hydrogels providing sustained release of the therapeutic materials.¹⁴⁾ Application for assays or diagnosis are also expected, and noise reduction of a glucose sensor by coating electrodes by zwitterionic polymers was also reported.¹⁵⁾ In addition, cell culture mediums are another promising application of zwitterionic monomers. For example, expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells with reduced differentiation on a zwitterionic hydrogel was reported.¹⁶⁾

As monomers are helpful for the conjugation of polymers with proteins or peptides, We offer N-succinimidyl acrylate (Product No. S0814) and N-succinimidyl methacrylate (Product No. S0812) having NHS ester moiety which react with primary amines, and pentafluorophenyl acrylate (Product No. P2179) and pentafluorophenyl methacrylate (Product No. P2289) having pentafluorophenyl ester group, etc.