Design and synthesis of perfluorinated amphiphilic copolymers: Smart nanomicelles for theranostic applications

Since decades, varieties of amphiphilic polymers have been widely investigated for improving aqueous solubility and bioavailability of the hydrophobic drugs. The upcoming approach is to develop more efficient advanced nano-carrier molecules capable of more than drug delivery. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of some novel carrier molecules with multiple applications including drug encapsulation, drug delivery and diagnosis (imaging). Copolymers were synthesized using dimethyl 5-hydroxy/aminoisophthalate, poly(ethylene glycols) and Candida antarctica lipase (CAL-B, Novozym 435). CAL-B selectively catalyses the trans esterification reaction under solvent less condition using primary hydroxyls of poly(ethylene glycols) and leaving behind phenolic hydroxyl for post polymerization modifications. The obtained copolymers were further tethered with perfluorinated aliphatic chains to make them amphiphilic. The synthesized materials were investigated for their micellar behavior, temperature dependent stability (in aqueous solution), encapsulation capacity, and imaging potential by measuring the sensitivity of these perfluorinated materials towards ¹⁹F NMR in NMR tube. It was observed that perfluorinated amphiphilic copolymers could encapsulate up to 14% (by wt) of hydrophobic drug and showed decent ¹⁹F NMR signals even at a very low concentration. Therefore, these perfluorinated copolymers hold considerable potential for further investigation as advanced nano-carrier molecules for biomedical applications.