Syntheses of a novel diol monomer and polyurethane elastomers containing phospholipid moieties

Abstract

To introduce a phosphorylcholine (PC) moiety into segmented polyurethane, which has been widely used as an elastic material, the synthesis of a novel diol monomer containing a PC unit was performed. PC-containing polyurethanes were then prepared by polyaddition of the diol monomer and poly(carbonate diol) with 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate. The obtained polyurethanes were soluble in aprotic polar solvents, such as N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethyl sulfoxide, but were insoluble in water and alcohol. According to thermal analysis and the stress-strain measurements, the polyurethane films exhibited thermal stability up to 250 °C and elastic properties with high tensile strength. In addition, it was confirmed from the results of the protein adsorption experiments that the PC-containing polyurethane films efficiently reduced protein adsorption to the surface. Copyright © 2013 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.