Preparation of polymeric vesicles with tertiary amine and epoxy functional groups via polymerization-induced self-assembly

Abstract

Polymeric vesicles with tertiary amine and epoxy functional groups were fabricated via the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of 2-(diisopropylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DIPEMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GlyMA) in an ethanol-water mixture by using poly (ethylene oxide)-4-(4-Cyanopentanoic acid) dithiobenzoate (mPEG45-CPADB) as the macro-chain-transfer agent (macro-CTA). Biocompatible polymer mPEG45 with molecular weight of 2000 and 4-(4-Cyanopentanoic acid) dithiobenzoate (CPADB) were used for the macro-CTA synthesizing via the esterification reaction. Investigation of the degree of polymerization (DP) of the hydrophobic block P(DIPEMA-co-GlyMA) and the solid content indicated that both have significant effect on the particle morphology and particle diameter. 1H NMR and FTIR analysis indicated the existing of tertiary amine and epoxy functional groups on the produced vesicles.