Synthesis of a novel star polymer consisting of a dendritic polyamidoamine core and polystyrene arms and its self‐assembly to form large multimolecular micelles

Abstract

This work is focused on the synthesis and self-assembly of novel dendritic star polymers with a dendritic polyamidoamine core and many linear polystyrene arms. The polymers can synchronously form unimolecular micelles (ca. 10 nm) and large multimolecular micelles (ca. 100 nm) in selected solvents (tetrahydrofuran/methanol) at room temperature. Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering measurements have provided direct evidence that the large micelles are a kind of multimicelle aggregate with the basic building units of unimolecular micelles. Accordingly, a possible selfassembly process is put forward, and a new aggregate model, termed multimicelle aggregate, is suggested to explain the formation of the large micelles. In the multimicelle aggregate model, the large micelles are the aggregates of small micelles associated by intermicellar interactions such as hydrogen bonds and p-p stacking interactions. It is the first demonstration of the self-assembly mechanism for the large multimolecular micelles generated from the solution self-assembly of dendritic star polymers.

Cholic Acid-Modified Dendritic Multimolecular Micelles and Enhancement of Anticancer Drug Therapeutic Efficacy

“…The end groups of dendrimers can be modified to vary the property of the dendrimers and improve their performance. PAMAM dendrimers, which are commercially available and have been widely studied in biomedical fields , may form multimolecular micelles once they are hydrophobically modified on their terminal groups ,− . The residual surface groups can be further modified into other functional groups to serve for imaging, targeted release, and drug anchors − .…”

A highly effective in vivo photothermal nanoplatform with dual imaging-guided therapy of cancer based on the charge reversal complex of dye and iron oxide

“…3. G2.0 PAMAM (NH 2 -terminated dendrimer) 32 was synthesized following reported methods. 29,33 For the synthesis of IR806 and its functionalized IONPs see ESI.…”

Synthesis and characterization of dendritic star-shaped zwitterionic polymers as novel anticancer drug delivery carriers

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Dendrimers are well defined and highly branched macromolecules with controlled nanometer size, monodisperse, and large interior cavity available for encapsulation and solubilization of hydrophobic drugs, especially numerous terminal functional groups, [6,7] therefore, they have always been used as core moieties for the preparation of dendritic star-shaped polymers. [8][9][10][11][12][13] Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers have been widely studied for biomedical applications because of their commercial availability and relatively biocompatible nature. [11] However, amino-terminated PAMAM dendrimers have been reported to display cytotoxicity dependent on concentration and generation.…”