Copper-catalyzed click reactions: quantification of retained copper using 64Cu-spiked Cu(I), exemplified for CuAAC reactions on liposomes

Abstract The Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) is a powerful, highly reliable and selective reaction which allows for a rapid synthesis in high yields and under mild conditions (pH, temperature). However, the cytotoxicity of copper requires its complete removal prior to an application in vivo. This is an issue especially when it comes to CuAAC reactions on macromolecular structures or drug delivery systems, as copper might be retained by these systems. Thus, a quantification of the final copper content of these systems is inevitable, which we exemplified for a CuAAC reaction on liposomes using 64Cu-spiked Cu(I). In this respect, a Cu(II) nitrate solution was irradiated at t…

Biodegradable hyperbranched polyether-lipids with in-chain pH-sensitive linkages

Hyperbranched polyether-based lipids with cleavable acetal units were obtained via copolymerization of the epoxide inimer 1-(glycidyloxy)ethyl ethylene glycol ether (GEGE) and glycidol, using anionic ring-opening polymerization. Cholesterol-linear polyglycerol (Ch-linPG) was used as a macroinitiator, resulting in branched polyethers with an adjustable amount of acid-cleavable units. Random copolymerization led to Ch-P(GEGEx-co-Gy) copolymers, whereas sequential copolymerization provided access to Ch-P(GEGEx-b-Gy) amphiphiles. The amount of GEGE was varied between 8–49 mol% of the total amount of monomer units. In addition, hyperbranched polyethers with a single acetal unit were prepared usi…

Cleavable Polyethylene Glycol: 3,4-Epoxy-1-butene as a Comonomer to Establish Degradability at Physiologically Relevant pH.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been used for decades to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of protein drugs, and several PEG-protein conjugates are approved by the FDA. However, the nondegradability of PEG restricts its use to a limiting molecular weight to permit renal excretion. In this work, we introduce a simple strategy to overcome the nondegradability of PEG by incorporating multiple pH-sensitive vinyl ether moieties into the polyether backbone. Copolymerization of 3,4-epoxy-1-butene (EPB) with ethylene oxide via anionic ring-opening polymerization (AROP) provides access to allyl moieties that can be isomerized to pH-cleavable propenyl units (isoEPB). Well-defined P(EPB-co-EG) copo…

Silver Oxide Mediated Monotosylation of Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG): Heterobifunctional PEG via Polymer Desymmetrization

Heterobifunctional poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) are key structures for bioconjugation in the context of the “PEGylation” strategy to enhance blood circulation times of, for example, peptide drugs or “stealth” liposomes. The formation of heterobifunctional PEGs from symmetric PEG diols is challenging because of limited yields of the targeted monofunctional product and difficulties associated with separation steps. On the basis of a detailed comparison of reaction conditions, we have investigated a “polymer desymmetrization” strategy to maximize the yields of monofunctional PEG tosylate. The tosylation reaction in the presence of the heterogeneous catalyst silver oxide and potassium iodide i…

Acid‐Labile Amphiphilic PEO‐ b ‐PPO‐ b ‐PEO Copolymers: Degradable Poloxamer Analogs

Poly ((ethylene oxide)-b-(propylene oxide)-b-(ethylene oxide)) triblock copolymers commonly known as poloxamers or Pluronics constitute an important class of nonionic, biocompatible surfactants. Here, a method is reported to incorporate two acid-labile acetal moieties in the backbone of poloxamers to generate acid-cleavable nonionic surfactants. Poly(propylene oxide) is functionalized by means of an acetate-protected vinyl ether to introduce acetal units. Three cleavable PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymers (Mn,total = 6600, 8000, 9150 g·mol(-1) ; Mn,PEO = 2200, 3600, 4750 g·mol(-1) ) have been synthesized using anionic ring-opening polymerization. The amphiphilic copolymers exhibit narrow molec…

Targeting of immune cells with trimannosylated liposomes

Surface Modification of Nanoparticles and Nanovesicles via Click-Chemistry

Surface modification of nanocarriers offers the possibility of targeted drug delivery, which is of major interest in modern pharmaceutical science. Click-chemistry affords an easy and fast way to modify the surface with targeting structures under mild reaction conditions. Here we describe our current method for the post-preparational surface modification of multifunctional sterically stabilized (stealth) liposomes via copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) and inverse electron demand Diels-Alder norbornene-tetrazine cycloaddition (IEDDA). We emphasize the use of these in a one-pot orthogonal reaction for deep investigation on stability and targeting of nanocarriers. As the prod…

Orthogonal Click Conjugation to the Liposomal Surface Reveals the Stability of the Lipid Anchorage as Crucial for Targeting

Synthetic access to multiple surface decorations are a bottleneck in the development of liposomes for receptor mediated targeting. This opens a complex multiparameter space, exploration of which is severely limited in terms of sample numbers and turnaround times. Here, we unlock this technological barrier by a combination of a milligram-scale liposome formulation using dual centrifugation and orthogonal click chemistry on the liposomal surface. Application of these techniques to conceptually new amphiphilic compounds, which feature norbornene and alkyne groups at the apex of sterically stabilizing, hyperbranched polyglycerol moieties, revealed a particular influence of the membrane anchor o…

Acid‐Cleavable Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogels Displaying Protein Release at pH 5

Abstract PEG is the gold standard polymer for pharmaceutical applications, however it lacks degradability. Degradation under physiologically relevant pH as present in endolysosomes, cancerous and inflammatory tissues is crucial for many areas. The authors present anionic ring‐opening copolymerization of ethylene oxide with 3,4‐epoxy‐1‐butene (EPB) and subsequent modification to introduce acid‐degradable vinyl ether groups as well as methacrylate (MA) units, enabling radical cross‐linking. Copolymers with different molar ratios of EPB, molecular weights (M n) up to 10 000 g mol−1 and narrow dispersities (Đ<1.05) were prepared. Both the P(EG‐co‐isoEPB)MA copolymer and the hydrogels showed pH‐…

Comparison of linear and hyperbranched polyether lipids for liposome shielding by 18F-radiolabeling and positron emission tomography

Multifunctional and highly biocompatible polyether structures play a key role in shielding liposomes from degradation in the bloodstream, providing also multiple functional groups for further attachment of targeting moieties. In this work hyperbranched polyglycerol (hbPG) bearing lipids with long alkyl chain anchor are evaluated with respect to steric stabilization of liposomes. The branched polyether lipids possess a hydrophobic bis(hexadecyl)glycerol membrane anchor for the liposomal membrane. hbPG was chosen as a multifunctional alternative to PEG, enabling the eventual linkage of multiple targeting vectors. Different hbPG lipids (Mn = 2900 and 5200 g mol-1) were examined. A linear bis(h…

Polymerization of Ethylene Oxide, Propylene Oxide, and Other Alkylene Oxides: Synthesis, Novel Polymer Architectures, and Bioconjugation.

The review summarizes current trends and developments in the polymerization of alkylene oxides in the last two decades since 1995, with a particular focus on the most important epoxide monomers ethylene oxide (EO), propylene oxide (PO), and butylene oxide (BO). Classical synthetic pathways, i.e., anionic polymerization, coordination polymerization, and cationic polymerization of epoxides (oxiranes), are briefly reviewed. The main focus of the review lies on more recent and in some cases metal-free methods for epoxide polymerization, i.e., the activated monomer strategy, the use of organocatalysts, such as N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs) as well as phosphazen…