Issue 1, 2022

Well-defined polyacrylamides with AIE properties via rapid Cu-mediated living radical polymerization in aqueous solution: thermoresponsive nanoparticles for bioimaging

Abstract

There is a requirement for the development of methods for the preparation of well-controlled polymers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. This requirement directed this current work towards a robust synthetic route, which would be applicable for preparation in water and the presence of many types of functional groups. Herein, aqueous Cu-mediated living radical polymerization (LRP) has been optimized to provide facile and rapid access to a diverse range of water-soluble AIE polymers at sub-ambient temperatures. Homo-, block and statistical copolymerization all proceeded to a near full monomer conversion (≥99%) within 1 or 2 h and exhibited narrow dispersity, even when DP was targeted up to 1000. This excellent control associated with this polymerisation technique and the high-end group fidelity achieved were further demonstrated by linear first order kinetics and successful in situ block copolymerization, respectively. Fine-tuning the monomer sequence and composition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) copolymers allows for different lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and fluorescent thermoresponsive nanoparticles, which spontaneously self-assembled to varying sizes in water as determined by a combination of techniques (DLS, SAXS and TEM). Additionally, the fluorescence intensity was demonstrated to depend on the polymer concentration, architecture of the side chains and temperature. Particularly, PNIPAM-containing polymers were resistant to reduction in thermo-induced emission. The good biocompatibility, photostability and high specificity make them promising candidates as lysosome-specific probes for application in bioimaging.

Graphical abstract: Well-defined polyacrylamides with AIE properties via rapid Cu-mediated living radical polymerization in aqueous solution: thermoresponsive nanoparticles for bioimaging

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 10 2021
Accepted
30 11 2021
First published
02 12 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 58-68

Well-defined polyacrylamides with AIE properties via rapid Cu-mediated living radical polymerization in aqueous solution: thermoresponsive nanoparticles for bioimaging

C. Ma, T. Han, N. Niu, L. Al-Shok, S. Efstathiou, D. Lester, S. Huband and D. Haddleton, Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 58 DOI: 10.1039/D1PY01432C

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