shown that PEAs made from the naturally occurring isomers of amino acids are much

more readily degradable by enzymes than those made from the unnatural isomer.12 This

fact led us to use only the naturally occurring isomer of the amino alcohols used to make

our monomers (1-6). This decision was made in an effort to maximize enzymatic

degradation of the final polymers. The racemization of chiral centers is of great concern

when the polymerization method requires the use of basic or highly thermal conditions.

ADMET is a thermally and chemically neutral polymerization method. These conditions

make ADMET an ideal candidate for studying polymers that are sensitive to harsher

polymerization methods. The synthesis of the monomers (1-6) for our study focuses on

practicality and recent research regarding the transformation of specific monomers into

specific polymers that maintain the various desired properties. These polymers (7-13)

represent an opportunity to build on current research in the field of PEAs and further the

application of ADMET to the synthesis of enzymatically degradable molecules. This

work represents the first reported enzymatic degradation on ADMET polymers. The 2nd

generation Grubbs' catalyst (Figure 1) was used exclusively because of its tolerance of

functional groups in the monomer and its lack of air sensitivity. These characteristics

make it very useful for a variety of polymerizations encompassing various substrates and

environments that do not hinder its activity.


Figure 1 2nd Generation Grubbs' catalyst