Synthesis of amphiphilic homopolymers and their self-assembly into acid-responsive polymeric micelles

This contribution presents a strategy for preparing amphiphilic homopolymers as building blocks for self-assembly into supramolecular nanostructures. The synthesis begins with norbornene monomers containing oligoethylene glycols on the side chains. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization of the monomers and subsequent dihydroxylation afford water-soluble dihydroxylated poly(norbor nene)s (PNBs). Amphiphilic modifications of the hydrophilic PNBs can be achieved by reacting 1,2-diols on the backbones with hydrophobic dodecanals to form acetal linkages. The self-assembly of the resulting amphiphilic PNB homopolymers affords polymeric micelles whose morphologies can be tuned by breaking the acetal linkages under acidic conditions. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.