Design and Syntheses of Complex Telechelic Amphiphilic ABA Triblock Copolymers via RAFT Polymerization Using a Trithiocarbonate Chain Transfer Agent

摘要

Shell crosslinked nanoparticles (SCKs) are core-shell nanoparticles prepared from block copolymeric micelles and stabilized by regioselective crosslinking reactions to result in robust nanostructures. SCKs have received great attention for their potential biomedical applications and they are promising candidates for targeted drug delivery. One key advantage of SCKs is that the size, shape and properties of these multi-functional self assembled nanoparticles can be easily controlled by the synthetic design of the block copolymers. Advances made in the field of living radical polymerization techniques in the last decade have allowed for the synthesis of well-defined macromolecules from a wide range of monomers. Reversible addition fragmentation and chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) is emerging as one of the most versatile living radical polymerization techniques, for which a chain transfer agent reversibly reacts with the propagating radical and thereby imparts ‘livingness’ to the polymerization. In this study, a trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent has been employed to prepare a wide range of amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymers with a variety of hydrophobic middle blocks and acrylic acid hydrophilic blocks via RAFT. These materials, upon self assembly, will result in nanoparticles with interesting properties and functionalities that can be potentially used for biomedical applications.