Intramolecular Copper-Containing Hyperbranched Polytriazole Assemblies for Label-Free Cellular Bioimaging and Redox-Triggered Copper Complex Delivery

Intramolecular Cu-containing amphiphilic hyperbranched polytriazoles are purposefully designed and synthesized via a Cu(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction, and are self-assembled into spherical assemblies. Based on the metal coordination ability of triazole groups, the copper catalyst can be intramolecularly coordinated with triazole groups in the CuAAC, producing the copper-triazole coordination polyprodrugs. Unexpectedly, the amphiphilic hyperbranched polytriaozle assemblies can also be applied as fluorescent nanoprobes with aggregation-induced emission enhancement. The cellular uptake verifies their functional application for cellular bioimaging. Furthermore, the results of cell viability indicate that the mPEG-hb-S-S-PTAs assemblies are effective copper delivery systems for cancer therapy by releasing the anticancer copper-triazole coordination complexes. Therefore, the amphiphilic hyperbranched polytriazoles may have very promising applications in complex copper delivery and label-free cellular bioimaging.