Particles without a Box: Brush-first Synthesis of Photodegradable PEG Star Polymers under Ambient Conditions
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Liu-2013-Particles without a.pdf
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Author(s)
Liu, Jenny
Gao, Angela Xiaodi
Johnson, Jeremiah A.
Date Issued
October 2013
Journal
Journal of Visualized Experiments
Publisher
MyJoVE Corporation
Citation
Liu, Jenny, Angela Xiaodi Gao, and Jeremiah A. Johnson. “Particles Without a Box: Brush-First Synthesis of Photodegradable PEG Star Polymers Under Ambient Conditions.” JoVE no. 80 (2013).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Convenient methods for the rapid, parallel synthesis of diversely functionalized nanoparticles will enable discovery of novel formulations for drug delivery, biological imaging, and supported catalysis. In this report, we demonstrate parallel synthesis of brush-arm star polymer (BASP) nanoparticles by the "brush-first" method. In this method, a norbornene-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macromonomer (PEG-MM) is first polymerized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to generate a living brush macroinitiator. Aliquots of this initiator stock solution are added to vials that contain varied amounts of a photodegradable bis-norbornene crosslinker. Exposure to crosslinker initiates a series of kinetically-controlled brush+brush and star+star coupling reactions that ultimately yields BASPs with cores comprised of the crosslinker and coronas comprised of PEG. The final BASP size depends on the amount of crosslinker added. We carry out the synthesis of three BASPs on the benchtop with no special precautions to remove air and moisture. The samples are characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC); results agreed closely with our previous report that utilized inert (glovebox) conditions. Key practical features, advantages, and potential disadvantages of the brush-first method are discussed.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3791/50874
