Optically Active Polymer Via One-Pot Combination of Chemoenzymatic Transesterification and RAFT Polymerization: Synthesis and Its Application in Hybrid Silica Particles

Recent advances in the synthesis of biodegradable polyesters by sustainable polymerization: lipase-catalyzed polymerization

Over the past three decades, enzymatic polymerization has dramatically developed and gradually broadened as a creative methodology in the construction of polymeric materials with tailor-made structures and properties. Compared with transition metal catalyst polymerizations, enzymatic polymerization is more attractive in the biomedicine field due to the metal-free residue, good biocompatibility, and few by-products. Meanwhile, enzymatic polymerization has far more activity towards macrolides. In this review, the synthesis of lipase-catalyzed polymer materials is systematically summarized, focusing on the synthesis of the complex and well-defined polymers. The enzymatic polyester synthesis was then discussed concerning the different reaction types, including ring-opening polymerization, polycondensation, a combination of ring-opening polymerization with polycondensation, and chemoenzymatic polymerization. Besides, exploration of novel biocatalysts and reaction media was also described, with particular emphasis on the enzymes obtained via immobilization or protein engineering strategies, green solvents, and reactors. Finally, recent developments in catalytic kinetics and mechanistic studies through the use of spectroscopy, mathematics, and computer techniques have been introduced. Besides, we addressed the remaining central issues in enzymatic polymerization and discussed current studies aimed at providing answers.

A polymerizable aggregation-induced emission dye for fluorescent nanoparticles: synthesis, molecular structure and application in cell imaging

This work reports the fabrication of a novel polymerizable AIE dye and its amphiphilic PEG-TS fluorescent polymers via RAFT polymerization, which were attractive for the application in cell imaging.

Controlled radical polymerization of an acrylamide containing L-alanine moiety via ATRP

Homopolymerization of an optically active acrylamide having an amino acid moiety in the side chain, N-acryloyl-L-alanine (AAla) was carried out via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) at room temperature using 2-hydroxyethyl-2'-methyl-2'-bromopropionate (HMB) or sodium-4-(bromomethyl)benzoate (SBB) as initiator in pure water, methanol/water mixture and pure methanol solvents. The polymerization reaction resulted in the optically active biocompatible amino acid-based homopolymer in good yield with narrow molecular weight distribution. The number average molecular weight increased with conversion and polydispersity was low. The structure and molecular weight of synthesized polymer were characterized by (1)H NMR, FT-IR spectroscopic techniques and size-exclusion chromatography.

Preparation of glucose-responsive and fluorescent micelles via a combination of RAFT polymerization and chemoenzymatic transesterification for controlled release of insulin

Polymeric micelles with glucose-responsive and fluorescent features have been synthesized using a one-pot method via a combination of RAFT polymerization and chemoenzymatic tranesterification for controlled release of insulin in vitro.