ABSTRACT
Although the term poly(α-esters) implies polyesters that are based on α-hydroxy acids, this chapter will more broadly cover materials that have an oxygen atom adjacent to the α-carbon of the acid moiety. Therefore, poly(p-dioxanone), an important synthetic absorbable polyester, will be covered even though the oxygen adjacent to the α-carbon of the corresponding acid is an ether-oxygen. Likewise, a class of AA-BB polyesters based on diacids possessing ether-oxygens adjacent to the acid’s α-carbons will be discussed. Finally, although ε-caprolactone is a monomer leading to a poly(ε-ester), as it nds utility in copolymerization with other lactone monomers, it too is included for the sake of completeness.
