We report a new family of clickable poly(ethylene glycol)
(PEG)-grafted
polyoxetane brush polymers as a potential modular platform for delivery
of drugs and imaging agents. 3-Ethyl-3-hydroxymethyloxetane (EHMO)
monomer reacted with propargyl benzenesulfonate in the presence of
sodium hydride to yield alkyne-substituted monomer (EAMO). Subsequently,
cationic ring-opening polymerization using boron trifluoride diethyl
etherate catalyst and 1,4-butanediol initiator produced P(EAMO) homopolymer
with a DP of ∼30 (30 alkynes per chain). Methoxypoly(ethylene
glycol) azide (mPEG750-azide) prepared from mPEG750 (750 g mol–1) was grafted to P(EAMO) via copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide
cycloaddition (CuAAC) click chemistry. Water-soluble cytocompatible
P(EAMO)-g-PEG brush polymers with controlled degrees
of PEGylation were synthesized by varying the feed molar ratio of
mPEG750-azide to alkyne (25:100, 50:100, 75:100, and 100:100). 1H NMR, GPC, end-group analysis, FTIR, and DSC were applied
for polymer characterization. The utility of P(EAMO)-g-PEG for carrying imaging agents was demonstrated by preparing fluorescently
labeled P(EAMO)-g-PEG. 5-(Aminoacetamido)fluorescein
(AAF) was used as a model compound. Fluorescein-carrying P(EAMO)-g-PEG was synthesized by click coupling bifunctional spacer
6-azidohexanoic acid (AHA) to P(EAMO)-g-PEG and subsequently
coupling of AAF to AHA with EDC/NHS chemistry.