Alkylborane—p-quinone system in the synthesis of collagen and vinylpyrrolidone copolymers as a basis of materials for regenerative medicine

The grafted polymerization of N-vinylpyrrolidone onto collagen in the presence of tributylborane and a number of p-quinones (p-benzoquinone, p-naphthoquinone, 2,5-di-tert-butyl-p-benzoquinone, and duroquinone) was studied. The trialkylborane—p-quinone system allows one to form cross-linked copolymers due to a combination of two polymerization routes: “grafting from” and “grafting to.” Grafted poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone has high molecular weights and a high degree of polydispersity, which depend on the structure of the p-quinone used. An MTT assay of cytotoxicity shows that the copolymer extracts exhibit pronounced toxicity, which decreases when diluting with a growth medium to the appearance of the stimulating effect on the cell growth.