Isothermally-Responsive Polymers Triggered by Selective Binding of Fe3+ to Siderophoric Catechol End-Groups
Citations Over TimeTop 22% of 2014 papers
Abstract
Thermoresponsive polymers have attracted huge interest as a way of developing smart/adaptable materials for biomedicine, particularly due to changes in their solubility above the LCST. However, temperature is not always an appropriate or desirable stimulus given the variety of other cellular microenvironments that exist, including pH, redox potentials, ionic strength, and metal ion concentration. Here, we achieve a highly specific, isothermal solubility switch for poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) by application of ferric iron (Fe3+), a species implicated in a range of neurodegenerative conditions. This is achieved by the site-specific incorporation of (Fe3+-binding) catechol units onto the polymer chain-end, inspired by the mechanism by which bacterial siderophores sequester iron from mammalian hosts. The ability to manipulate the hydrophilicity of responsive systems without the need for a temperature gradient offers an exciting approach toward preparing increasingly selective, targeted polymeric materials.
Related Papers
- → LCST‐Type Hyperbranched Poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) with Thermo‐ and CO2‐Responsive Backbone(2018)16 cited
- → The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of non‐polar polymer solutions: An introduction(1982)30 cited
- → Hydrogen bonding and crystal packing trends in tetraalkylammonium halide—catechol complexes: synthesis, spectroscopic and crystal structure studies of Me4NC1—catechol, Et4NCl—catechol, Et4NBr—catechol and Pr4NBr—catechol complexes(1986)15 cited
- → Formulation and synthesis of hydrogels having lower critical solution temperature near body temperature(2017)1 cited
- Controllable release of ibuprofen from thermo-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel(2011)