Patent ID: 8066824

Claim:
A method for preparing a covalently modified metal surface, comprising the steps of: (a) modifying a metal substrate to incorporate thereon a plurality of hydroxyl groups; (b) providing a compound of formula I: wherein: R 1 is synthetic polymer group selected from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), a heterobifunctional PEG, or a branched PEG; W is —C(═O)OH, —C(═O)X, —P(═O)(OH) 2 , —P(═O)(X) 2 , —P(═O)(R a )OH, —P(═O)(R a )X, —O—S(═O) 2 OH, —S(═O) 2 OH, —Si(R a ) 2 OH, —Si(OR a ) 2 OH, —Si(R a ) 2 X, —Si(R a )(OH) 2 , —Si(R a )X 2 , —Si(OR a ) 2 X, C(═O)H, —N═C═S, —N═C═O, phenol, thiophenol, or an epoxide; each X is independently Cl, Br, or I; and each R a is hydrogen, an alkyl group, or an aryl group; and (c) coupling the compound of formula I directly to one or more of the hydroxyl groups on the metal surface via the W moiety.