The synthesis of new polymeric biomaterials using biocompatible building blocks is important for the advancement of the biomedical field. We report the synthesis. of statistically. random poly(carbonate-ester)s derived from lactic acid and dihydroxyacetone by ring-opening polymerization. The monomer mole feed ratio and initiator concentration were adjusted to create various copolymer ratios and molecular weights. A dimethoxy acetal protecting group was used to stabilize the dihydroxyacetone and was removed-using elemental iodine and acetone at reflux to produce the final poly(lactide-co-dihydroxyacetone) copolymers. The characteristics of the copolymers in their protected and deprotected forms were characterized by H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, GPC, TGA, and DSC. Hydrolytic degradation of the deprotected copolymers, was tracked over an 8-week time frame.. The results show that faster degradation occurred with increased carbonate content in the copolymer backbone. The degradation pattern of the copolymers was visualized using SEM and revealed a trend toward surface erosion as the primary mode of degradation.