Reactive thiol-ene emulsion-templated porous polymers incorporating pentafluorophenyl acrylate

Abstract Highly porous polymers (polyHIPEs) incorporating activated esters have been prepared by photopolymerisation of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) containing pentafluorophenyl acrylate (PFPA) in the monomer phase. The resulting materials have nominal porosity of 80% and a well-defined, interconnected pore morphology with average pore diameters ranging from 30 to 50 μm. PFPA could be added at up to 50 wt% of the monomer phase without destabilising the HIPE noticeably, however analysis of the polyHIPE materials revealed that only around half of this was incorporated into the final porous materials. The pentafluorophenyl groups were shown to be reactive towards a range of amines (tr…

Amphiphilic Copolymers Shuttle Drugs Across the Blood-Brain Barrier.

Medical treatment of diseases of the central nervous system requires transport of drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, it is extended previously in vitro experiments with a model compound to show that the non-water-soluble and brain-impermeable drug domperidone (DOM) itself can be enriched in the brain by use of an amphiphilic copolymer as a carrier. This carrier consists of poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-methacrylamide), statistically copolymerized with 10 mol% hydrophobic lauryl methacrylate, into whose micellar aggregates DOM is noncovalently absorbed. As tested in a BBB model efficient transport of DOM across, the BBB is achievable over a wide range of formulations, containing 0.…

Functionalization of Porous Polymers from High‐Internal‐Phase Emulsions and Their Applications