Abstract Coacervates are partially hydrated, colloidal polymer droplets in water held together by hydrophobic interactions and are considered promising candidates for drug delivery applications. We present the first coacervates made from temperature-induced phase separation of aqueous poly(phosphoester) terpolymer solutions. Such coacervates are interesting for drug carrier applications as they are non-toxic, fully biodegradable and form spontaneously upon heating above a threshold temperature (lower critical solution temperature, LCST). The investigated poly(ethylene alkyl phosphonate) terpolymers are synthesized via the organocatalytic anionic ring-opening polymerization of cyclic phosphonate monomers. This way polymers with high control over molecular weight, terpolymer composition (and hence physical and chemical properties) and rather narrow molecular weight distributions ( Ð 31 P NMR polymerization kinetics. These functional terpolymers spontaneously phase separate into a polymer rich coacervate phase in water upon heating above the LCST, providing an elegant method to prepare degradable and non-toxic carrier system.

中文翻译：

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无规聚（膦酸酯）三元共聚物的热响应凝聚层形成

摘要凝聚层是水中部分水合的胶体聚合物液滴，通过疏水相互作用结合在一起，被认为是药物递送应用的有希望的候选物。我们展示了第一个由聚（磷酸酯）三元共聚物水溶液的温度诱导相分离制成的凝聚层。这种凝聚层对药物载体应用很有吸引力，因为它们无毒、可完全生物降解并且在加热到阈值温度（下临界溶液温度，LCST）以上时自发形成。所研究的聚（亚乙基烷基膦酸酯）三元共聚物是通过环状膦酸酯单体的有机催化阴离子开环聚合合成的。这样聚合物就可以高度控制分子量，