Polylactide (PLA) represents one of the most promising biomedical polymers due to its biodegradability, bioresorbability and good biocompatibility. This work highlights the synthesis and characterization of PLAs using novel diethylzinc/gallic acid (ZnEt₂/GAc) and diethylzinc/propyl gallate (ZnEt₂/PGAc) catalytic systems that are safe for human body. The results of the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of rac-lactide (rac-LA) in the presence of zinc-based catalytic systems have shown that, depending on the reaction conditions, "predominantly isotactic", disyndiotactic or atactic PLA can be obtained. Therefore, the controlled and stereoselective ROP of rac-LA is discussed in detail in this paper.
Keywords: biomedical polymers; gallic acid; polylactide; propyl gallate; ring-opening polymerization; zinc-based catalysts.