Clickable waterborne polymers and click-crosslinked waterborne polymers, clickable functional compounds, click functionalized waterborne polymers, and uses thereof

Abstract

Clickable waterborne polymers, click crosslinking of waterborne polymers, click crosslinked waterborne polymers, clickable functional compounds, and click functionalized waterborne polymers are presented. For example, the waterborne polymers have pendant groups bearing alkyne and/or azide groups and alkyne. For example, the functionalized azide-containing functional compounds such as antimicrobial or infrared-refractive compounds. The click crosslinking of clickable waterborne polymers or polymer mixtures, and the click conjugation of clickable waterborne polymers with clickable functional compounds such as clickable antimicrobial or infrared-refractive compounds, which resulted in functional waterborne polymers with antimicrobial or infrared-refractive functions, are presented. The presented polymers, including clickable waterborne polymers, click-crosslinked waterborne polymers, and functional waterborne polymers with, for example, antimicrobial or infrared-refractive functions, can be used in applications such as coating and adhesive compositions. The aqueous suspensions of waterborne polymers can also be used directly as drug delivery systems, or can be crosslinked into hydrogels or composites for biomedical applications such as drug/cell delivery, tissue engineering, and other medical device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer having at least one first pendant group comprising an azide group or alkyne group. 
     
     
         2 . The polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer has at least one first pendant group comprising an azide group and at least one second pendant group comprising an alkyne group. 
     
     
         3 . The polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the polyurethane polymer or polyester polymer has x % by weight alkyne groups and/or azide groups, wherein 0<x≦20. 
     
     
         4 . The polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 1 , wherein the polyacrylate polymer has x % by weight alkyne groups and/or azide groups, wherein 0<x≦15. 
     
     
         5 . A polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer having at least one crosslinking group, wherein the crosslinking group comprises a 1,2,3-triazole. 
     
     
         6 . A method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer comprising: contacting a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer having at least one first pendant group comprising an azide group and at least one second pendant group comprising an alkyne group with a copper(I) catalyst under conditions such that a crosslinking group comprising a 1,2,3-triazole is formed. 
     
     
         7 . The method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 6 , wherein polyurethane polymer or polyester polymer has 0 to 20% by weight alkyne groups and/or azide groups. 
     
     
         8 . The method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 6  wherein the polyacrylate polymer has 0 to 15% by weight alkyne groups and/or azide groups. 
     
     
         9 . The method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 6 , wherein the contacting is carried out in an aqueous medium. 
     
     
         10 . The method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 6 , wherein the contacting is carried out at room temperature. 
     
     
         11 . The method of crosslinking a polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 6 , wherein the copper(I) catalyst is formed in situ. 
     
     
         12 . A functionalized polyurethane, polyester, or polyacrylate polymer comprising at least one functional molecule linked to the polymer backbone via a linking group comprising a 1,2,3-triazole. 
     
     
         13 . A composition comprising a polyurethane, polyester, and/or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 1  and/or a polyurethane, polyester, and/or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 5  and/or a functionalized polyurethane, polyester, and/or polyacrylate polymer of  claim 12 . 
     
     
         14 . The composition of  claim 13 , wherein the composition is a coating or adhesive composition.