``Click'' Reactions: Novel Chemistries for Forming Well-defined Polyester Nanoparticles

TLDR: In this article, the synthesis of discrete functionalized polyester nanoparticles in selected nanoscale size dimensions via a controlled intermolecular chain cross-linking process facilitated via "click"-chemistry approaches such as the Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides and thiol−ene reactions is presented.

Abstract: We present the synthesis of discrete functionalized polyester nanoparticles in selected nanoscale size dimensions via a controlled intermolecular chain cross-linking process facilitated via “click”-chemistry approaches such as the Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides and thiol−ene reactions. Both “click” reactions led to the formation of well-defined nanoparticles with narrow size distribution and selected nanoscopic size dimensions. The controlled coupling involves the cross-linking of an alkyne functionalized polyester with a bisazide, 1,8-diazide-3,6-dioxaoctane, and an allyl functionalized polyester with 3,6-dioxa-1,8-octanedithiol. The linear functional polyester precursors were synthesized via ring-opening copolymerization of δ-valerolactone and α-propargyl-δ-valerolactone as well as with α-ally-δ-valerolactone, respectively. We found that the nanoparticle formation and the control over the nanoscopic dimension are primarily influenced by the degree of the alkyne or allyl entity imple...