Description
General Description
PCL Diacid (HOOC-PCL-COOH) is an α,ω-dicarboxyl-terminated poly(ε-caprolactone) containing reactive carboxylic acid groups at both ends of the polymer chain.
Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a biodegradable, hydrophobic aliphatic polyester widely used in drug delivery, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biomaterials research. PCL generally exhibits relatively slow hydrolytic degradation compared with many lactide- and glycolide-based polyesters, making it particularly useful for sustained-release and longer-term biodegradable materials.
Unlike conventional monocarboxyl-terminated PCL (PCL-COOH), PCL Diacid contains two terminal carboxylic acid groups, providing a difunctional polymer platform for modification at both polymer chain ends.
The terminal carboxyl groups can be activated using carbodiimide chemistry such as EDC/NHS and subsequently reacted with primary amines to form stable amide bonds. The difunctional architecture also makes HOOC-PCL-COOH useful for preparing block copolymers, polymer networks, crosslinked materials, hydrogels, and other advanced polymer architectures.
Applications
- Block copolymer synthesis
- Polymer conjugation
- EDC/NHS coupling
- Difunctional polymer synthesis
- Polymer crosslinking
- Hydrogel preparation
- PCL nanoparticle preparation
- Controlled drug delivery
- Tissue engineering
- Biomaterials research
Features and Benefits
- Two terminal carboxylic acid groups
- Biodegradable PCL backbone
- Difunctional polymer architecture
- Compatible with EDC/NHS coupling
- Suitable for amine conjugation
- Tunable molecular weight
- Suitable for polymer crosslinking
- Versatile precursor for functional PCL derivatives
