5 years ago

Synthesis and self-assembly of amphiphilic tadpole-shaped block copolymer with disulfides at the junction points between cyclic PEG and linear PS

Synthesis and self-assembly of amphiphilic tadpole-shaped block copolymer with disulfides at the junction points between cyclic PEG and linear PS
Shell-sheddable polymeric assemblies are a type of self-assembled structures formed by amphiphilic block copolymers with cleavable linkages at the junction points. The shell-sheddable self-assemblies have been used as nanocarriers for drugs and inorganic nanoparticles. In this research, synthesis and self-assembly of amphiphilic tadpole-shaped block copolymer with disulfide bonds at the junction points were investigated. Dialkyne-terminated polystyrene (Da-PS) was synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization and thiol-disulfide exchange reaction. The tadpole-shaped block copolymer was synthesized by bimolecular coupling between azido-terminated PEG and Da-PS. Size exclusion chromatograph, FTIR, 1H NMR and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass analysis results all indicated successful synthesis of the polymer. The tadpole-shaped block copolymer self-assembles into vesicles in aqueous solution. The disulfide bonds at the junction points can be cleaved by a reducing agent, resulting in aggregation of the assemblies.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S003238611730616X

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.