Slow Release of Bioactive Alcohols From Butenolide Polymers and Coatings

Over the past decades, an increased interest is observed for sustainable building blocks for polymers and the wide range of omnipresent plastic products. Concurrently, polymer-based controlled release systems have gained significant attention from the fragrance, agricultural, and pharma industries for release of bioactive compounds, odors, and pesticides. Here, we report the controlled release of bioactive alcohols from biobased alkoxy butenolide derived polymers and coatings, without making use of post-polymerization modifications. Utilizing the acetal functionality of the butenolide scaffold, bioactive alcohols can be linked to the butenolide monomer and selectively released from the produced polymer using mild acidic conditions (pH ≤ 7). The alcohol release rate can be tuned by altering the polymer polarity by the choice of the monomers, higher acid catalyst loadings and longer exposure time.