This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project is in the general area of polymer modification in the subfield of organic synthesis. The selection of a polymer for use in a biomedical application is based upon the physical characteristics of the polymer such as strength and flexibility and upon the biocompatibility of the material with tissue. Often compromises must be made between these two conflicting requirements. The ideal solution to this problem is to enable the selection of the polymer based solely on the physical properties and then provide a tenacious surface coating which imparts the required biocompatibility properties. The coating reagent must be capable of covalent bonding to a variety of polymer surfaces and imparting the desired surface properties. This project will focus on the synthesis of new photoreactive groups having improved photocoupling capabilities including wavelength of activation and reactivity toward less reactive polymer surfaces. These new reagents will be incorporated into coating molecules to assess their ability to surface modify the polymer. Two representative coating systems will be investigated, one intended to impart a lubricous surface and the other to generate a nonthrombogenic coating. A variety of polymer substrates will be utilized and these reagents will be used to coat devices provided by customers.
