End-chain fluorination of polyesters favors perfluorooctyl bromide encapsulation into echogenic PEGylated nanocapsules
Perfluorinated end-capped polylactides (PLAs) with various perfluorinated chain lengths from C 3 F 7 to C 13 F 27 were synthesized and formulated into PEGylated nanocapsules of perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) to be used as ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). We show that the perfluorinated end groups d...
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Published in | Polymer chemistry Vol. 8; no. 16; pp. 2559 - 2570 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Royal Society of Chemistry - RSC
28.04.2017
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Perfluorinated end-capped polylactides (PLAs) with various perfluorinated chain lengths from C
3
F
7
to C
13
F
27
were synthesized and formulated into PEGylated nanocapsules of perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) to be used as ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs). We show that the perfluorinated end groups do not reduce the interfacial tension between PFOB and the organic solvent used during formulation and do not allow a significant reduction of shell thickness (Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments). However, the PFOB encapsulation efficiency increases with the fluorinated chain length until C
8
F
17
. This suggests the possible presence of favorable fluorophilic interactions between PFOB and perfluorinated end groups. In addition, nanocapsules formulated with different fluorinated polymers do not promote any specific toxicity
in vitro
compared to non-fluorinated PLAs. Ultrasound imaging performed on samples presenting the lowest thickness values, namely nanocapsules made from 50% PLA-C
6
F
13
/50% polylactide-
b
-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) and pure PLA-PEG nanocapsules, shows that fluorinated nanocapsules exhibit a higher ultrasound contrast enhancement
in vitro
most probably thanks to the higher PFOB content and density arising from polymer fluorination. This highlights the benefit of fluorination for improving the echogenicity of nano-sized ultrasound contrast agents. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1759-9954 1759-9962 |
DOI: | 10.1039/C7PY00400A |