Telechelic Triblock Poly(α-Amino Acid)-Poly(Tetrahydrofuran)-Poly(α-Amino Acid) Copolymers: Chain-End Transformation, Polymerization and pH-Responsive Hydrolysis

Peng Zhou, Zixian Li, Yanzhi Lu, Jie Kong, Jun Ling

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Block copolymers not only combine properties of different segments but also generate new application prospects. Poly(α-amino acid)-b-poly(tetrahydrofuran)-b-poly(α-amino acid) (PAA-PTHF-PAA) is one of the copolymers. In this contribution, di-hydroxyl-ended HO-PTHF-OH is transferred into di-oxyamino-ended H2NO-PTHF-ONH2 quantitatively, which is used as a macroinitiator to polymerize sarcosine N-thiocarboxyanhydride (Sar-NTA) and N-phenyoxycarbonyl N-ε-carbobenzyloxy-D-lysine (ZDL-NPC). Well-defined triblock PAA-NHO-PTHF-ONH-PAA is produced with high molecular weight (up to 25.3 kg/mol) and narrow dispersity. The amphiphilic PSar-NHO-PTHF-ONH-PSar (STS) self-assembles into micelles with uniform diameters of 30—40 nm according to DLS. Owing to oxygen amide groups inside the backbone of these copolymers, the polyether-poly(amino acid)s block copolymers are cleavable under an acidic environment and therefore have potential applications in smart biomedicine and engineering.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2852-2856
Number of pages5
JournalChinese Journal of Chemistry
Volume39
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2021

Keywords

  • Amino acid
  • Block copolymers
  • End group transformation
  • Peptides
  • Peptoids

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