The synthesis of cationic polyurethanes to study the effect of amines and structures on their DNA transfection potential.

Polyurethanes (PUs) are a class of biodegradable polymers that have been applied as tissue-engineering materials with minimum toxicity. In our study, a new series of cationic PUs containing tertiary amines in the backbone and primary, secondary and tertiary amines in the side chains (PU1, PU2 and PU3, respectively) was synthesized and used as nonviral vectors for gene delivery. In addition, we introduced glycidol into the structure of PU for greater solubility and biocompatibility and grafted various amines in the side chains (PUg1, PUg2, PUg3).