The catalyst-free polytransesterification for obtaining linear PGS optimized with use of 22 factorial design

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is a polyester that is particularly useful for tissue engineering applications. Many researchers have focused on the application and characterization of materials made from PGS. Synthesis is often superficially described, and the prepolymer is not characterized before crosslinking. Considering the different functionality of each monomer (glycerine – 3, sebacic acid – 2), materials with a branched structure can be obtained before the crosslinking process. Branched structures are not desirable for elastomers. In this work, method to obtain linear PGS resins is presented. Moreover, synthesis was optimized with the use of the Design of Experiments method for minimizing the degree of branching and maximizing the molecular weight. The process was described via mathematical models, which allows to the association of process parameters with product properties. In this work ca. 1kDa and less than 10% branched PGS resin was produced. This resin could be used to make very flexible elastomers because branching is minimized.