2025-07-14 北海道大学
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/news/2025/07/n-.html
- https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/news/pdf/250714_pr.pdf
- https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01313
N-メチル化ナイロン: 分解可能な新規親水性高分子ライブラリ N-Methylated Nylons as a Novel Library of Degradable Hydrophilic Homopolymers
Akari Sugano,Natsuki Inaba,Keitaro Matsuoka,and Kazuki Sada
Macromolecules Published: June 27, 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01313
Abstract
Nylon-p,q, the first synthetic fiber, is practically insoluble in water because the secondary amide group in the backbone forms a hydrogen bond network. Herein, we revisit N-methylated nylon-p,q as a novel class of degradable hydrophilic homopolymers. Although N-methylated nylons have been overlooked for over 80 years due to their unsuitability for fibers, we modernized them as hydrophilic polymers through simple N-methylation of nylons. We constructed a library of 24 types of N-methylated nylon-p,q, in which the tertiary amide group acts as a hydrophilic group, enabling fine-tuning of water solubility from soluble to insoluble by varying the carbon number (p,q). N-Methylated nylon-p,q with an optimal hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance exhibited lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase separations with the formation of coacervate droplets. Furthermore, N-methylated nylons showed on-demand degradability under acidic conditions through the hydrolysis of amide groups. This research expands the potential of nylon as a hydrophilic polymer material satisfying modern societal demands.
