Amphiphilic fluorous random copolymer self-assembly for encapsulation of a fluorinated agrochemical

Amphiphilic self-folding random copolymers exhibit different solution behaviors depending on the identity of the hydrophobic/hydrophilic units. Herein, it is demonstrated that changing the hydrophilic unit from poly(ethylene glycol) to the sugar trehalose causes increased discrepancy in the polarity difference with a fluorinated hydrophobic segment and changes the aggregation state of the polymer in water. The PEG-fluorinated and trehalose/PEG-fluorinated amphiphilic random copolymers were the most efficient at encapsulating a fluorinated agrochemical. The small-molecule agrochemical exerts a strong influence on the self-assembly of the polymers, demonstrating that fluorous interactions result in not only intramolecular self-folding behavior but also intermolecular polymer association to form well-defined nanoparticles. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 352-359