Synthesis of Unimolecular Micelles with Incorporated Hyperbranched Boltorn H30 Polyester modified with Hyperbranched Helical Poly(phenyl isocyanide) Chains and their Enantioselective Crystallization Performance.

Here, the fabrication of unimolecular micelles functionalized with helical polymeric chains as a chiral nucleating agent in enantioselective crystallization is reported. Starting from a fractionated hyperbranched polyester (Boltorn H30), the ring-opening polymerization of l-lactic acid (LLA) and subsequent terminal-group modification affords the alkyne-Pd(II)-anchored hyperbranched macroinitiator (H30-PLLA-Pd). By taking advantage of a Pd(II)-catalyzed living polymerization of chiral pendant modified l- or d-phenyl isocyanide (PI) monomers, well-defined chiral unimolecular micelles (H30-PLLA-PPI) grafted with radiating helical PPI coronas of one predominant screw sense are obtained. The resultant chiral materials demonstrate excellent application in the enantioselective crystallization of racemic threonine in water, and a 92% enantiomeric excess value of the residual solution is obtained. It is believed this present proof of concept and methodology are facile and powerful for preparing novel and versatile chiral materials with different topological structures, not only applicable to PPI but also to other types of polymers.

Stimuli-Responsive Block Copolymer-Based Assemblies for Cargo Delivery and Theranostic Applications.

Although a number of tactics towards the fabrication and biomedical exploration of stimuli-responsive polymeric assemblies being responsive and adaptive to various factors have appeared, the controlled preparation of assemblies with well-defined physicochemical properties and tailor-made functions are still challenges. These responsive polymeric assemblies, which are triggered by stimuli, always exhibited reversible or irreversible changes in chemical structures and physical properties. However, simple drug/polymer nanocomplexes cannot deliver or release drugs into the diseased sites and cells on-demand due to the inevitable biological barriers. Hence, utilizing therapeutic or imaging agents-loaded stimuli-responsive block copolymer assemblies that are responsive to tumor internal microenvironments (pH, redox, enzyme, and temperature, etc.) or external stimuli (light and electromagnetic field, etc.) have emerged to be an important solution to improve therapeutic efficacy and imaging sensitivity through rationally designing as well as self-assembling approaches. In this review, we summarize a portion of recent progress in tumor and intracellular microenvironment responsive block copolymer assemblies and their applications in anticancer drug delivery and triggered release and enhanced imaging sensitivity. The outlook on future developments is also discussed. We hope that this review can stimulate more revolutionary ideas and novel concepts and meet the significant interest to diverse readers.