100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Re-examining Single-Chain Nanoparticles

Abstract

Single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP) are a class of polymeric nanoparticles obtained from the intramolecular crosslinking of polymers bearing reactive pendant groups. The development of SCNP has drawn tremendous attention since the fabrication of SCNP mimics the self-folding behavior in natural biomacromolecules and is highly desirable for a variety of applications ranging from catalysis, nanomedicine, nanoreactors, and sensors. The versatility of novel chemistries available for SCNP synthesis has greatly expanded over the past decade. Significant progress was also made in the understanding of a structure− property relationship in the single-chain folding process. In this Viewpoint, we discuss the effect of precursor polymer topology on single polymer folding. We summarize the progress in SCNP of complex architectures and highlight unresolved issues in the field, such as scalability and topological purity of SCNP.

One‐Shot Intrablock Cross‐Linking of Linear Diblock Copolymer to Realize Janus‐Shaped Single‐Chain Nanoparticles

“…Inspired by the self‐folding of biomacromolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, intramolecular cross‐linking reactions of random‐coiled synthetic polymers into defined structures, e.g., cyclic polymers, [1–5] cage‐shaped polymers, [6–10] and single‐chain nanoparticles (SCNPs), [11–18] have attracted significant interest. Among these unique single‐chain technologies, the intramolecular cross‐linking of linear polymers bearing cross‐linkable functionalities along the main chain to generate a three‐dimensional SCNP had been widely studied, aiming at creating functional nanomaterials, such as catalysts, [19–23] nanocarriers, [24–27] and stimuli‐responsive sensors [28–31] …”

Amphiphilic micro‐ and nanogels: Combining properties from internal hydrogel networks, solid particles, and micellar aggregates

“…109 In general, precisely adjusting the copolymer composition and the placement of functional groups along the multifunctional chains can be used to tune the folding properties of these systems, thus partially mimicking the natural folding process of peptide chains in proteins and enzymes. 51,110,111 This control over the assembly of synthetic materials is of high interest toward the realization of synthetic enzymes. Even though the field of crosslinked amphiphilic SCNP is still in its infancy, these materials show great potential in bioinspired applications, for example, as new catalytic systems.…”

“…Moreover, these systems can be used to fabricate single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP) as new important class of materials. [51][52][53] Most importantly, the random copolymer structure can easily be realized for natural biopolymers through hydrophobic modification (e.g., polysaccharides). [54][55][56] Thus, amphiphilic micelles can also be obtained for such polymers that are otherwise restricted in their ability to form well-defined BCP.…”

One‐Shot Intrablock Cross‐Linking of Linear Diblock Copolymer to Realize Janus‐Shaped Single‐Chain Nanoparticles

“…Inspired by the self-folding of biomacromolecules,such as proteins and nucleic acids,i ntramolecular cross-linking reactions of random-coiled synthetic polymers into defined structures,e.g., cyclic polymers, [1][2][3][4][5] cage-shaped polymers, [6][7][8][9][10] and single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs), [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] have attracted significant interest. Among these unique single-chain technologies,t he intramolecular cross-linking of linear polymers bearing cross-linkable functionalities along the main chain to generate athree-dimensional SCNP had been widely studied, aiming at creating functional nanomaterials,s uch as catalysts, [19][20][21][22][23] nanocarriers, [24][25][26][27] and stimuli-responsive sensors.…”