Polysulfone based amphiphilic graft copolymers by click chemistry as bioinert membranes

A series of well-defined amphiphilic graft copolymers with hydrophobic polysulfone (PSU) as backbones and hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as side chains were synthesized and characterized. For this purpose, PSUs were converted to azido-functionalized polymers by successive chloromethylation and azidation processes to give clickable PSUs. Then, the ω-hydroxyl function of the commercially available PEG-OH was converted into propargyl functionality by simple esterification process. Ultimately, the alkyne functionalized PEO was successfully grafted onto the PSUs by click chemistry. The final polymers and intermediates at various stages were characterized by ¹H NMR, FT-IR, and GPC techniques. The bioinert character of PEG grafted PSU was confirmed by static protein adsorption and prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell adhesion studies, and compared to that of unmodified PSU.