Synthesis of Poly(Ester Amide)

Poly(ester amide)(PEA) is a class of functional polymers with both amide and ester linkages in the polymer main chains. Due to the outstanding biodegradability, biocompatibility and mechanical property, PEA has broad applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering and thermoplastic elastomer. Polycondensation is the original synthetic method to PEA. Recently, remarkable achievements have been made in synthesis of PEA via ring-opening polymerization(ROP). This review summarizes the progress in ROP of cyclic monomers, ringopening copolymerization (ROCP) of cyclic monomers and ROCP of cyclic/linear momomers. Moreover, multicomponent polymerization (MCP) is highlighted as a novel synthetic strategy to prepare PEA. The challenge and outlook of PEA are also discussed.