Biomembranes as models for polymer surfaces. II. The syntheses of reactive species for covalent coupling of phosphorylcholine to polymer surfaces.

We have proposed previously that the biocompatibility of biomaterial surfaces might be improved by mimicking the phospholipid components which are present on the external faces of cellular plasma membranes. This approach may have particular relevance to the generation of haemocompatible surfaces, since the distributional asymmetry of phospholipids in the plasma membranes of blood cells is critical to the maintenance of haemostasis. The simplest feature common to the external faces of essentially all the mammalian plasma membranes investigated so far is the high content of the electrically neutral, but zwitterionic, phosphorylcholine. The present communication describes the syntheses of a group of novel reactive species capable of covalently linking phosphorylcholine to a variety of polymer surfaces.