Patent ID: 7615593

Claim:
A hydrogel comprising: a first polymer matrix containing reactive amino moieties; a heterobifunctional modifier comprising a compound of formula: wherein at least one of the “A” or “Z” moieties is covalently bonded to the reactive amino moieties of the first polymer matrix; and wherein “A” and “Z” are independently a monovalent or divalent organic moiety; wherein at least one of A and Z is a divalent moiety; if A or Z is a monovalent moiety, then A or Z is selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, C 1 -C 24 -alkoxy, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkyl, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkenyl, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkynyl, cyano-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, a C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkenyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkynyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkenyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkynyl, acyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, carboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkylcarboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkenylcarboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkynylcarboxy, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, aryl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, heteroaryl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, sulfonate, arylsulfonate, and heteroarylsulfonate; if A or Z is a divalent moiety, then A or Z is independently selected from a divalent equivalent of a monovalent moiety selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, C 1 -C 24 -alkoxy, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkyl, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkenyl, C 1 -C 24 -heteroalkynyl, cyano-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, a C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkenyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloalkynyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkenyl, C 3 -C 10 -cycloheteroalkynyl, acyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, acyl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, carboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkylcarboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkenylcarboxy, C 1 -C 24 -alkynylcarboxy, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, carboxy-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, aryl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, aryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, heteroaryl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkyl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkenyl, heteroaryl-C 1 -C 24 -alkynyl, sulfonate, arylsulfonate, and heteroarylsulfonate; wherein the “A” moiety and the “Z” moiety are different from one another; wherein only one of A and Z is bound to the first polymer matrix; wherein “m” is an integer of from 2 to 8 and “n” is an integer equal to or greater than 100; and a second polymer matrix that interpenetrates with the first polymer matrix.