Ziegler-Natta catalysed polymerisation for the preparation of copolymers with pendant sucrose moieties

The copolymerisations of the monomers 1 (1',2,3,3',4,4',6-hepta-O-benzyl-6'-O-crotonyl-sucrose) and 2 (1',2,3,3'.4,4',6-hepta-O-benzyl-6'-O-methacryloyl-sucrose) with styrene/methyl methacrylate have been examined in the presence of Ziegler-Natta catalyst TiCl4/AlEt3. A study of the effect of the reaction conditions, the monomer structure and the initial quantity of the comonomers on the sugar incorporation and molecular mass of the final copolymers has been carried out. In this way, by the coordination mechanism of polymerisation we had obtained novel linear unbranched polymers and copolymers, potentially useful for biomedical applications. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.