2-Methylene-1,3-dioxepane

2-Methylene-1,3-dioxepane is used in the synthesis of functional 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane terpolymer which functions as a building block for the construction of biodegradable pH sensitive polymeric prodrug for intracellular drug delivery.

2-Methylene-1,3-dioxepane (MDO), which is also called cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs), can undergo radical addition on their carbon–carbon double bond, which then subsequently leads to propagation, either by ring opening or ring retaining or by a combination of both, which depends especially on their structure. This monomer provides a novel and alternative synthetic route for the synthesis of polycaprolactone, and it imparts degradability to conventional vinyl monomers by introducing ester linkages into the backbone. Thereby, the structure of the polyester material can be greatly expanded, and the polyester material can be applied to a wider range of fields. Its same repeat unit with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). On the same time, the PCL synthesis through rROP offered new characteristic properties, such as totally amorphous instead of semicrystalline, versatile functionalization abilities by copolymerization with different vinyl monomers[1-2].