Preparation of Supramolecular Graft Copolymers and the Subsequent Formation of pH-Sensitive Vesicles

Abstract

A feasible methodology for the preparation of vesicles through self-assembly of supramolecular graft copolymers (SGPs) was developed. Two types of polymeric vesicles were prepared through self-assembly of two SGPs. For the first SGP, hydrophobic poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVPy) were used as main chains, and hydrophilic poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) with carboxylic end groups (PNVP-COOH) were grafted onto the main chains through ionic interaction between the carboxylic groups and pyridine groups. For the second SGP, hydrophobic poly(4-acrylamidobenzoic acid) (PABA) were used as main chains, and poly(Nvinylpyrrolidone) with amino end groups were grafted onto the main chains through ionic interaction between the amino groups and carboxylic groups. Both SGPs could self-assemble to form vesicles in aqueous solution. The size of the vesicles prepared from the PVPy/PNVP-COOH (or PABA/PNVP-NH 2 ) system could be controlled through modulation of the mass ratio of PVPy and PNVP-COOH (or PABA and PNVP-NH 2 ). Both vesicles were sensitive to pH and could be deformed by changing pH. Drug-release studies showed that release rates of the loaded drug (sunset yellow) in the two vesicles could be well-controlled by the pH of the releasing solution.

Multifunctional covalently stabilized vesicles acting simultaneously as the template of gold nanoparticle cluster and the nanocarrier of guest molecules

“…Update, a vast amount of covalent stabilized micelles [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and vesicles [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] has been prepared on the basis of the self-assembly of amphiphilic linear polymers. However, the study on the stabilization of the aggregates derived from the branched polymers is scarce [47,48].…”

Engineering Solid‐State Molecular Switches: N‐Salicylidene N‐Heterocycle Derivatives

“…[1] Supramolecular chemistry concepts have been largely used in materials science, [2] polymer science [3] and biology [4] and provide novel types of applications (solid-state receptors, [5] chemoresponsive sensors, [6] zeolite analogs, [7] etc). Supramolecular architectures are constructed thanks to steric and electronic information contained in basic molecular building blocks.…”

Novel Polymeric Vesicles with pH‐Induced Deformation Character for Advanced Drug Delivery

“…Besides, other properties, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, cell specific adhesion, and stimulus response, are always expected to meet a series of requirements for their clinical applications. [4][5][6] Therefore it is a significant task to exploit ideal copolymers for vesicles.…”