ABSTRACT
The importance of cationic polymers (CPs) is universally recognized because they exhibit unique biological properties; promote cell penetration of various molecules and nano-constructs, etc. Biodegradable CPs, which can be cleared from the body following executing their function, look especially valuable. One of the most convenient approaches for constructing biodegradable CPs is the incorporation of hydrolyzable ester bonds in the polymeric backbones. This could be achieved, e.g., by the application of diamine-diester monomers made of cationic amino acid arginine (R) and diols-bis-(arginine)-alkylene diesters. Promising building blocks for constructing biologically active polymers are also non-proteinogenic amino acids (NPAAs), including those ones containing unsaturated bonds in the lateral chains that revealed a wide range of biological activities. The goal of the present paper is to combine these two classes of biologically active building blocks (i.e., arginine, and NPAAs) for constructing new CPs with an expanded range of potential biological activity. Such kind of CPs is of interest also for fabricating biologically active nanoparticles and as precursors of cationic hydrogels which could be obtained via crosslinking the linear CPs by hydrophilic cross-linkers.
