Star‐shaped copolymers with PLA–PEG arms and their potential applications as biomedical materials

Abstract This review is devoted to the star‐shaped polylactide‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA‐b‐PEG) polymers with hydrophobic‐hydrophilic arms. Star‐shaped polymers have a more compact structure as compared to linear counterparts but what is more important contain more end‐groups. If end‐groups are hydrophilic (such as hydroxyl groups), it may shift the hydrophilic‐hydrophobic balance of hydrophobic polymer such as PLA. Additional improvement of hydrophilicity may be achieved by introducing poly(ethylene glycol) segments. In this review, we are discussing synthetic approaches and basic properties of star‐shaped polylactide‐b‐poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA‐b‐PEG). The introduction of hydrophilic fragments (PEG) into hydrophobic chains (PLA) causes the considerable change of many properties of PLA polymers and extends their applications, particularly biomedical. The influence of the architecture and the number of arms of synthesized polymers as well as the content of hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks on their properties is also discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on researches on the obtained polymers (in vitro and in vivo) as potential materials for biomedical applications.