Photo and acid dual degradable polymeric nanoparticles from an o-nitrobenzyl dithiol with thiol-ene click polymerization

Herein, a dithiol reagent containing o-nitrobenzyl structure was designed, and the polymer PKNB with alternating ketal and o-nitrobenzyl structures and the amphiphilic triblock copolymer mPEG-PKNB-mPEG were obtained from this reagent through thiol-ene click chemistry. Our results showed that mPEG-PKNB-mPEG and its nanoparticles showed excellent light/acid degradation ability, which will have great potential in the fields of drug, gene, or pesticide delivery.

Automated summary

A dithiol reagent containing ketal and o-nitrobenzyl structures was used to synthesize the polymer PKNB and the amphiphilic triblock copolymer mPEG-PKNB-mPEG through thiol-ene click chemistry. The mPEG-PKNB-mPEG and its nanoparticles exhibited excellent light/acid degradation ability, suggesting promising applications in drug, gene, or pesticide delivery.