Photoresponsive polymer nanocarriers with multifunctional cargo (original) (raw)
* Corresponding authors
a Laboratory for Molecular Photonics, Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
E-mail: fraymo@miami.edu
b Laboratory of Photochemistry, Department of Drug Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, I-95125 Catania, Italy
E-mail: ssortino@unict.it
Abstract
Nanoparticles with photoresponsive character can be assembled from amphiphilic macromolecular components and hydrophobic chromophores. In aqueous solutions, the hydrophobic domains of these species associate to produce spontaneously nanosized hosts with multiple photoresponsive guests in their interior. The modularity of this supramolecular approach to nanostructured assemblies permits the co-encapsulation of distinct subsets of guests within the very same host. In turn, the entrapped guests can be designed to interact upon light excitation and exchange electrons, energy or protons. Such photoinduced processes permit the engineering of properties into these supramolecular constructs that would otherwise be impossible to replicate with the separate components. Alternatively, noninteracting guests with distinct functions can be entrapped in these supramolecular containers to ensure multifunctional character. In fact, biocompatible luminescent probes with unique photochemical and photophysical signatures have already emerged from these fascinating investigations. Thus, polymer nanocarriers can become invaluable supramolecular scaffolds for the realization of multifunctional and photoresponsive tools for a diversity of biomedical applications.
- This article is part of the themed collection:Supramolecular Photochemistry
You have access to this article
Please wait while we load your content... Something went wrong. Try again?
Article information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CS60324E
Article type
Review Article
Submitted
10 Sep 2013
First published
05 Dec 2013
Download Citation
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014,43, 4167-4178
Permissions
Photoresponsive polymer nanocarriers with multifunctional cargo
S. Swaminathan, J. Garcia-Amorós, A. Fraix, N. Kandoth, S. Sortino and F. M. Raymo,Chem. Soc. Rev., 2014, 43, 4167DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60324E
To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.
If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.
If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.
Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.