Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Amphiphilic Core-Shell TMP-(PCL-b-PGMA2)3 Star-Block Copolymer

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2015 Jun;15(6):4722-6. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2015.9760.

Abstract

A novel well-defined amphiphilic Core-Shell star-block copolymer was synthesized from trimethylolpropane, ε-caprolactone, and glycidyl methacrylate by a combination of enzymatic ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization. The structure and molecular weight of the macroinitiator and the star-block copolymer were confirmed by means of nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography. The effects of the glycidyl methacrylate sequence length on the hydrodynamic diameter and morphology of the polymer micelles were investigated by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, respectively.