Since their introduction over 50 years ago, polyurethanes have been applied to nearly every industry. This review describes applications of polyurethanes to the development of modified release drug delivery. Although drug delivery research leveraging polyurethanes has been ongoing for decades, there has been renewed and substantial interest in the field in recent years. The chemistry of polyurethanes and the mechanisms of drug release from sustained release dosage forms are briefly reviewed. Studies to assess the impact of intrinsic drug properties on release from polyurethane-based formulations are considered. The impact of hydrophilic water swelling polyurethanes on drug diffusivity and release rate is discussed. The role of pore formers in modulating drug release rate is examined. Finally, the value of assessing mechanical properties of the dosage form and approaches taken in the literature are described.

A convenient metal-free cascade oxidative decarbonylative alkylarylation of acrylamides with aliphatic aldehydes to provide quaternary oxindoles is developed. With DTBP as an oxidant and radical-initiator, this reaction efficiently converts cheap and abundant aliphatic aldehydes into valuable alkyl radicals for the cascade construction of C(sp³)–C(sp³) and C(sp³)–C(sp²) bonds via dual C(sp²)–H bond functionalization.

An efficient synthesis of pyrimidines and pyridines has been developed from readily available aromatic ketones, aldehydes and ammonium salts under transition-metal-free conditions. In this strategy, ammonium salts were used as nitrogen sources and only water was generated as a nontoxic byproduct. A catalytic amount of NaIO₄ played an important role in the selectivity control, whereas substituted pyridines were dominantly formed in its absence.