Water-soluble polydepsipeptides with functionalized side-chain groups, i. e., alternating copolymers, consisting of glycolic acid (Glc) and L-lysine (L-LYS), L-aspartic acid (LAsp) or L-glutamic acid (L-Gh) residues as a-hydroxy acid and a-amino acid residues, respectively, were synthesized, and their biodegradation behavior was investigated. Three kinds of polydepsipeptides, poly(G1c-alt-Lys), poly(G1c-alt-Asp) and poly(Glc-altGlu), were synthesized by means of ring-opening polymerization of the corresponding cyclodepsipeptides and subsequent deprotection of benzyl and benzyloxycarbonyl groups. In order to estimate the main-chain cleavage behavior of polydepsipeptides with functionalized side-chain groups, the hydrolysis behavior of the obtained water-soluble polydepsipeptides was first investigated in phosphate buffer solution with or without an enzyme in vitro.

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