Poly(glycerol sebacate): A Comparative Study of Various Synthesis Methods

This paper compares five synthesis methods for poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) prepolymers: high-temperature polycondensation, classical polycondensation under reduced pressure, enzymatic synthesis using Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB), enzymatic synthesis in the presence of acetone as a solvent, and Amberlyst-15-catalyzed polycondensation. All reactions were performed in the same laboratory to eliminate variability resulting from differences in instrumentation and experimental conditions. The obtained PGS samples were analyzed using FTIR, NMR, ESI-MS, GPC, DSC, and TGA. The enzymatic synthesis with CALB provided the best control of the reaction process, prevented gelation, and produced prepolymers with higher molecular weights and narrow dispersity. Structural analyses by NMR and ESI-MS revealed the presence of both linear and branched PGS structures. The obtained results clearly confirm that the synthesis strategy significantly influences the molecular architecture and physicochemical properties of the resulting PGS prepolymer. These findings provide a basis for further design of PGS-based materials for biomedical application.