Hyperbranched polyethylenimines as versatile precursors for the preparation of different type of unimolecular micelles

Abstract Hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) was successfully employed as precursor for the preparation of unimolecular inverted and aqueous micelles. The unimolecular inverted micelles (UIMs) obtained by the amidation of HPEI with 1,1′-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) activated palmitic acid exhibited high encapsulation efficiency for hydrophilic anionic dyes and the efficiency could be enhanced significantly by decreasing the degree of amidation or quaternizing the residual amines. The weight ratio of loaded guests to the amidated HPEIs was not dependent on the molecular weight of HPEI core when the degree of amidation was kept constant. Decreasing the length of the aliphatic chain from 16 to …

Thermoresponsive hyperbranched polyethylenimines with isobutyramide functional groups

Core–shell-type multiarm star polyethylenimine-block-poly(ɛ-caprolactone): Synthesis and guest encapsulation potential

Novel multiarm star copolymers with poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) as the arms and hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HPEI) as the core have been successfully prepared by the tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of e-caprolactone (CL) with HPEI used directly as a macroinitiator. Not only primary but also secondary amine groups of HPEI participate in initiating the ring-opening polymerization of CL with almost 100% initiation efficiency. The average degree of polymerization of the PCL arms can be controlled by the feed ratio of the monomers to the initiating sites. Because of the polarity difference of the PCL arms and HPEI core, the obtained multiarm star polymers display…

Multiarm star polyglycerol-block-poly(HEMA) as a versatile precursor for the preparation of micellar nanocapsules with different properties

Well-defined multiarm star polymer with hyperbranched polyglycerol as core and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) as arms were used as precursor for the preparation of inverted and aqueous micellar nanocapsules. The partial modification of the hydroxyl groups of PHEMA arms with aliphatic chains led to the formation of inverted micellar nanocapsules. The hydrophilic dye encapsulation capacity of the inverted micelles can be enhanced significantly by transforming the inner hydroxyl groups of PHEMA arms into quaternized amine groups. The modification of the outer and inner hydroxyl groups of PHEMA arms with polyethylene glycol acid chloride and pivaloyl chloride, respectively, resulted …