Polymers containing morpholine or thiomorpholine (oxide) functions showed an increased interest for biological applications in the recent years. Morpholine containing polymers provide high hydrophilicity and comparable biocompatibility with polyethylene glycol (PEG) which is the gold standard in biology. In particular, poly(N-acryloyl) morpholine is one of the most cited polymers containing morpholine, with applications in drug delivery, protein detection or the design of anticoagulant materials. However, there are very few examples of polymers derived from thiomorpholine and thiomorpholine oxide. Compared to morpholine polymers, thiomorpholine containing polymers are less hydrophilic, while thiomorpholine oxide derived polymers are more hydrophilic. Thiomorpholine and thiomorpholine oxide polymers are biocompatible and were recently studied as oxidation sensitive materials and as hemocompatible materials. This review highlights the correlation between the structural characteristics of morpholine and thiomorpholine (oxide) based polymers and their use in various biological applications.

近年来，含有吗啉或硫代吗啉（氧化物）功能的聚合物在生物应用中表现出越来越大的兴趣。含有吗啉的聚合物具有高亲水性和与生物学黄金标准聚乙二醇 (PEG)相当的生物相容性。特别是，聚（N-丙烯酰基）吗啉是最常被引用的含有吗啉的聚合物之一，在药物输送、蛋白质检测或抗凝血材料的设计中具有应用。然而，衍生自硫代吗啉和硫代吗啉氧化物的聚合物的实例非常少。与吗啉聚合物相比，含硫代吗啉的聚合物亲水性较低，而氧化硫代吗啉衍生的聚合物亲水性较高。硫代吗啉和硫代吗啉氧化物聚合物具有生物相容性，最近作为氧化敏感材料和血液相容性材料进行了研究。本综述强调了吗啉和硫代吗啉（氧化物）基聚合物的结构特征及其在各种生物应用中的用途之间的相关性。