Different families of functionalized polymers with potential as biomaterials, or for biomaterial modification, have been investigated. In particular, degradation studies have been performed on poly(amidoamines), a family of polymers obtained by polyaddition of amines to bisacrylamides, and endowed with heparin-complexing ability. Some new poly(amidoamines) with more resistance towards hydrolytic degradation than traditional ones have been discovered. Other ter-amino polymers deriving from the polyaddition of ter-amino functionalized bis-thiols to bis-acrylic esters, or other activated unsaturated compounds, have been studied. Their quaternarization products have been proven, in a parallel work, to act as powerful antimicrobial agents. By performing in situ the polyaddition reaction, semi-interpenetrated networks based on silicone rubber and the same polymers have been prepared. Finally, end-functionalized amphiphilic oligomers have been prepared by radical polymerization techniques, and their use for enzyme modification considered. Biomaterials (1994) 15, 1235-1241.