Pyridine-containing block copolymers are a special type of macromolecule, and they can self-assemble into highly-ordered nano-objects for a wide range of applications due to their multiple properties including hydrogen bond acceptance, pH sensitivity, facile functionalization and metal ion coordination. However, it still remains a critical challenge to design and fabricate pyridine-containing block polymeric nano-assemblies in a large scale in aqueous media. In this contribution, we reported a new type of pyridine-containing block-copolymer of polyethylene glycol-block-poly(N-(2-methylpyridine)-acrylamide) (PEG-PMPA), which can self-organize into nano-assemblies through reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) in water. Differing from the traditional hydrophobicity for driving the self-assembly of block-copolymers during polymerization, we here utilized the complementary hydrogen bonding interaction between the pyridine and the amide group to direct the organization of the block-copolymers with PMPA chain extension in polymerization. This facile strategy provides a new avenue to the scale-up preparation of smart and diversiform pyridine-containing polymer nanomaterials with potential applications in biomedicine.

中文翻译：

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互补氢键定向聚合诱导水中自组装获得含吡啶嵌段共聚物纳米组装体

含吡啶嵌段共聚物是一种特殊类型的大分子，由于具有氢键接受性、pH敏感性、易官能化和金属离子配位等多种特性，它们可以自组装成高度有序的纳米物体，具有广泛的应用前景。 . 然而，在水性介质中大规模设计和制造含吡啶嵌段聚合物纳米组件仍然是一个关键挑战。在这篇文章中，我们报道了一种新型的含吡啶嵌段共聚物聚乙二醇-嵌段-聚( N-(2-甲基吡啶)-丙烯酰胺) (PEG-PMPA)，它可以通过可逆加成-断裂链转移 (RAFT) 聚合诱导的自组装 (PISA) 在水中自组装成纳米组装体。不同于传统的疏水性在聚合过程中驱动嵌段共聚物的自组装，我们在这里利用吡啶和酰胺基团之间的互补氢键相互作用来指导嵌段共聚物在聚合过程中的组织与 PMPA 扩链。这种简便的策略为大规模制备具有生物医学潜在应用的智能和多样化的含吡啶聚合物纳米材料提供了一条新途径。