Cylindrical brush polymers constitute promising polymeric drug delivery systems (nanoDDS). Because of the densely grafted side chains such structures may intrinsically exhibit little protein adsorption (“stealth” effect) while providing a large number of functional groups accessible for bioconjugation reactions. Polysarcosine (PSar) is a highly water-soluble, nonionic and nonimmunogenic polypeptoid based on the endogenous amino acid sarcosine (N-methyl glycine). Here we report on the synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility of cylindrical brush polymers with either polysarcosine side chains or poly-l-lysine-b-polysarcosine side chains. The latter leads to block copolypept­(o)­id based core–shell cylindrical brushes with a cationic poly-l-lysine (PLL) core and a neutral polysarcosine corona. The cylindrical brush polymers were prepared by ring-opening polymerization of the respective N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA) from a macroinitiator chain. Preliminary experiments on complex formation with siRNA demonstrate that a core–shell cylindrical brush polymer may complex on average up to 270 RNA molecules amounting to a high loading efficiency of N+/P– = 1.1. No bridging between cylindrical brushes leading to larger aggregates is observed. In vitro studies on the silencing of the expression of ApoB100, which is abundantly expressed in AML-12 hepatocytes, induced by siRNA-cylindrical core–shell brush complexes showed high efficiency, leading to a knock-down efficiency of ApoB100 mRNA of 70%.

Nanoporous MgAl 2 O 4 particulates with high porosities were successfully prepared from sol-gel reactions, solvent exchange with castor oil and subsequent combustion and calcination at 700 °C. The products were crystalline and semitransparent. Changes in the metal precursor concentrations allowed control of pore volumes from 0.7 to 1.1 cm 3 /g and average pore sizes from 14 to 19 nm. The specific surface areas are about 200 m 2 /g regardless of the precursor concentrations. After heating at 1000 °C for 10 hours, the products kept about 70% of their original pore volume and about 60% of the original surface area. Heating at 1100 °C caused a drastic reduction of pore volume and surface area to 40 and 36%, respectively, as the average particle size increased to 23 nm.