Polyglycolide

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Polyglycolide is a polymer of glycolic acid, the simplest linear, aliphatic polyester. Polyglycolide is obtained from ring-opening polymerization of glycolide, the dimer of glycolic acid. Common catalysts used for this reaction are organo tin, antimony, zinc or stannous octoate.

The resulting polymer has a glass transition temperature between 35-40°C. It is highly crystalline (around 45-55%) and thus results insoluble in water. Polyglycolide does not dissolve in the majority of the most common organic solvents as well with the only exception of highly fluorinated solvents like Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP).

Polyglycolide is a biodegradable polymer that degrades through hydrolysis of its ester bonds. Use of this material has been authorized for the production of implantable medical devices and resorbable sutures. Degradation of the polymer results in the production of glycolic acid which is not toxic for the organism and is resorbed from surrounding tissues, metabolized and excreted as water and carbon dioxide.

References

• Middleton J. and Tipton A., "Synthetic biodegradable polymers as medical devices", Medical Plastics and Biomaterials Magazine, March 1998 [1]
• Gunatillake P. and Adhikari R., "Biodegradable Synthetic Polymers for tissue engineering", European Cells and Materials, 5, pp. 1-16, 2003