Radical Departure: Thermally-Triggered Degradation of Azo-Containing Poly(β-thioester)s

Hao Sun; Daniel J Dobbins; Yuqiong Dai; Christopher P Kabb; Shijian Wu; Jawaher A Alfurhood; Carlos Rinaldi; Brent S Sumerlin

doi:10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00327

Radical Departure: Thermally-Triggered Degradation of Azo-Containing Poly(β-thioester)s

ACS Macro Lett. 2016 Jun 21;5(6):688-693. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00327. Epub 2016 May 19.

Authors

Hao Sun¹, Daniel J Dobbins², Yuqiong Dai³, Christopher P Kabb³, Shijian Wu³, Jawaher A Alfurhood³, Carlos Rinaldi³, Brent S Sumerlin³

Affiliations

¹ George and Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Chemical Engineering, and §J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, P.O. Box 117200, Gainesville, Florida, United States.
² George and Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering, and §J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, P.O. Box 117200, Gainesville, Florida, United States.
³ George and Josephine Butler Polymer Research Laboratory, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering, and J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, P.O. Box 117200, Gainesville, Florida, United States.

PMID: 35614673
DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00327

Abstract

The design and synthesis of a new class of thermally-labile poly(β-thioester)s is reported. Aliphatic azo linkages were incorporated into the main chain of the polymers to allow for degradation to lower molecular weights upon heating. These polymers displayed a temperature-dependent degradation profile with a significant increase in decomposition rate as the temperature was raised from 60 to 95 °C. This approach was further extended to prepare amphiphilic triblock copolymers containing poly(β-thioester)s and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The resulting block copolymers were capable of self-assembly into micelles in water. Moreover, the assembled nanoparticles underwent dissociation as a result of exposure to heat.