Charge-Shifting Polycations with Tunable Rates of Hydrolysis: Effect of Backbone Substituents on Poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl acrylates]

While polycations based on 2-(dimethylamino)­ethyl methacrylate and 2-(dimethylamino)­ethyl acrylate are used in applications ranging from biomaterials to wastewater treatment, few studies have considered the remarkable differences in the hydrolytic stabilities of the respective ester groups. Here, we describe how the nature of nonmethyl α-substituents affect the rates of ester hydrolysis of such polymers, with an emphasis on the resulting …