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Fluorescent microspheres of poly(ethylene glycol)–poly(lactic acid)–fluorescein copolymers synthesized by Ugi four‐component condensation
Author(s) -
Icart Luis P.,
Fernandes Edson,
Agüero Lissette,
Ramón Jose,
Zaldivar Dionisio,
Dias Marcos L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.42994
Subject(s) - copolymer , ethylene glycol , polymer chemistry , condensation polymer , materials science , polymer , polymerization , conjugated system , condensation reaction , fluorescein , lactide , fluorescence , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , physics , quantum mechanics
Microparticles formed by poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) diblock copolymers containing fluorescein grafted to the polymer chain were synthesized by a Ugi four‐component condensation (UFCC) reaction. To synthesize these copolymers, lactide was first polymerized by a ring‐opening polymerization with alcohol initiators containing functional groups to give carboxyl‐ and aldehyde‐end‐functionalized PLA. Two different fluorescent block copolymers (FCPs) of PEG–PLA conjugated to fluorescein (FCP 1 and FCP 2) were then synthesized by UFCC; they gave yields in the range 65–75%. These copolymers were characterized well according their chemical structures and thermal properties, and we prepared fluorescent microspheres (FMSs) from them with the single emulsion–solvent evaporation method (FMS 1 and FMS 2). A new application of UFCC in the preparation of biomasked drug‐delivery systems is proposed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 42994.