title: Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane Soft Nanoparticles Obtained by Surfactant-Assisted Interfacial Polymerization.
abstract: Polyurethanes (PUs) are considered ideal candidates for drug delivery applications due to their easy synthesis, excellent mechanical properties, and biodegradability. Unfortunately, methods for preparing well-defined PU nanoparticles required miniemulsion polymerization techniques with a nontrivial control of the polymerization conditions due to the inherent incompatibility of isocyanate-containing monomers and water. In this work, we report the preparation of soft PU nanoparticles in a one-pot process using interfacial polymerization that employs a non-isocyanate polymerization route that minimizes side reactions with water. Activated pentafluorophenyl dicarbonates were polymerized with diamines and/or triamines by interfacial polymerization in the presence of an anionic emulsifier, which afforded non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) nanoparticles with sizes in the range of 200-300 nm. Notably, 5 wt % of emulsifier was required in combination with a trifunctional amine to achieve stable PU dispersions and avoid particle aggregation. The versatility of this polymerization process allows for incorporation of functional groups into the PU nanoparticles, such as carboxylic acids, which can encapsulate the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin through ionic interactions. Altogether, this waterborne synthetic method for functionalized NIPU soft nanoparticles holds great promise for the preparation of drug delivery nanocarriers.
authors.affiliation: POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU , Joxe Mari Korta Center, Avda. Tolosa 72, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO), UMR 5629-CNRS, Université de Bordeaux-Institut National Polytechnique de Bordeaux , 16 Avenue Pey Berland, 33607 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Amaury
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bossion
authors.affiliation: IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, United States.
authors.forename: Gavin O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO), UMR 5629-CNRS, Université de Bordeaux-Institut National Polytechnique de Bordeaux , 16 Avenue Pey Berland, 33607 Pessac, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8539-4963
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taton
authors.affiliation: POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU , Joxe Mari Korta Center, Avda. Tolosa 72, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, E-48011 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0788-7156
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mecerreyes
authors.affiliation: IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120, United States.
authors.forename: James L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3621-9747
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hedrick
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhan Yuin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8666-4382
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yi Yan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1871-5448
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU , Joxe Mari Korta Center, Avda. Tolosa 72, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.|Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, E-48011 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: Haritz
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6268-0916
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sardon