Copolymers of tyrosine-based polycarbonate and poly(alkylene oxide)

A polyarylate, polymerized as a random block copolymer of a dicarboxylic acid with both a tyrosine-derived diphenol and a poly(alkylene oxide), wherein an equimolar combined quantity of said diphenol and said poly(alkylene oxide) is reacted with said dicarboxylic acid in a molar ratio of said diphenol to said poly(alkylene oxide) between about 1:99 and about 99:1;

• and wherein said dicarboxylic acid has the structure:
• ##STR6## in which R is selected from the group consisting of saturated and unsaturated, substituted and unsubstituted alkyl, aryl and alkylaryl groups containing up to 18 carbon atoms;
• said tyrosine-derived diphenol has the structure:
• ##STR7## in which R.sub.1 is --CH.dbd.CH-- or (--CH.sub.2 --).sub.j, wherein j is zero or an integer from one to eight, and R.sub.2 is selected from the group consisting of straight and branched alkyl and alkylaryl groups containing up to 18 carbon atoms and derivatives of biologically and pharmaceutically active compounds covalently bonded to said diphenol;
• and
• said poly(alkylene oxide) has the structure:
• (--O--R.sub.3 --).sub.y
• in which each R.sub.3 is independently an alkylene group containing up to 4 carbon atoms and y is an integer between about 5 and about 3000.