Organocatalytic Polymers from Affordable and Readily Available Building Blocks for the Cycloaddition of CO to Epoxides.

The catalytic cycloaddition of CO to epoxides to afford cyclic carbonates as useful monomers, intermediates, solvents, and additives is a continuously growing field of investigation as a way to carry out the atom-economic conversion of CO to value-added products. Metal-free organocatalytic compounds are attractive systems among various catalysts for such transformations because they are inexpensive, nontoxic, and readily available. Herein, we highlight and discuss key advances in the development of polymer-based organocatalytic materials that match these requirements of affordability and availability by considering their synthetic routes, the monomers, and the supports employed.

Osteoinduction of stem cells by collagen peptide-immobilized hydrolyzed poly(butylene succinate)/β-tricalcium phosphate scaffold for bone tissue engineering.

Bone substitute is a therapeutic approach to treat bone abnormalities. A scaffold serves mainly as osteoconductive elements. To facilitate a better biological performance, short collagen peptide was immobilized onto hydrolyzed poly(butylene succinate)/β-tricalcium phosphate (HPBSu/TCP) scaffolds.

In vitro human chondrocyte culture on plasma-treated poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffolds.

Porous poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) scaffolds were prepared using a salt leaching technique and subsequently surface modified by a low oxygen plasma treatment prior to the use in the in vitro culture of human chondrocytes. Condensation polymerization of glycerol and sebacic acid used at various mole ratios, i.e.

Stem cell adhesion and proliferation on hydrolyzed poly(butylene succinate)/β-tricalcium phosphate composites.

Although poly(butylene succinate)/β-tricalcium phosphate (PBSu/TCP) composites are biocompatible and allow the growth and osteogenic differentiation of stem cells, cell attachment and adhesion to the PBSu-based substrates is often limited. To enhance cell adhesion and proliferation, we used a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) hydrolysis technique to generate a different degree of roughness on PBSu/TCP substrates with different PBSu:TCP ratios. The results showed that NaOH hydrolysis increased surface roughness of PBSu/TCP substrates in a concentration-dependent manner.