Patent ID: 8461289

Claim:
A polymer comprising at least 10 mol % of repeating units having a structure selected from the group consisting of Formula (I) and Formula (Ia) for which the variables are defined as follows: Ar is a phenylene ring optionally substituted with from one to four substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, halomethyl, halomethoxy, methyl, methoxy, thiomethyl, nitro, sulfoxide and sulfonyl; R 1 is selected from the group consisting of a bond and optionally substituted alkylene, heteroalkylene, alkenylene and heteroalkenylene groups containing from one to ten carbon atoms; X 1 , X 2 and X 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of O, S and NR 3 ; R 2 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl groups containing from one to thirty carbon atoms, or R 2a is an alkylene group covalently bonded to both the NR 2 nitrogen atom and AA, so that —N—R 2a -AA- defines a heterocyclic ring; R 3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl groups containing from one to thirty carbon atoms; AA has a pendant COOR 4 group in which R 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkyl, heteroalkyl and alkylaryl groups containing up to 30 carbon atoms and alkyl-terminated poly(alkylene oxide) groups of molecular weight 100 to 10,000; and AA and X 3 H of Formula (I) are selected so that (R 2 —HN-)AA-X 3 H defines an —X 3 H substituted amino acid which is not tyrosine, and AA and X 3 H of Formula (Ia) are selected so that defines an X 3 H-substituted amino acid; wherein said polymer has a glass transition temperature or crystalline melting temperature greater than 37° C. when fully hydrated in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (0.1 M, pH 7.4) at 37° C. and said Formula (I) and (Ia) variables are selected so that monomers comprising said Formula (I) and Formula (Ia) repeating units have a solubility in said PBS solution at 37° C. of at least about 3 mg/mL.