“On‐Off” Switching of Functional Guest Molecules via Exchange of Natural Product Solubilizing Agents

Abstract

For the development of delivery systems, the solubilization of hydrophobic guest molecules in water is an important yet challenging task. This can be achieved by preparing stable aqueous solutions with a high concentration of guest molecules using a natural product as a solubilizing agent and a mechanochemical high‐speed vibration milling apparatus as a solubilizing method. Various solubilizing agent‐guest molecule complexes can be obtained via the exchange between solubilizing agents, which enables the “on‐off” switching of the properties of functional guest molecules, such as fluorescence intensity, and photodynamic activity. In the exchange method, guest molecules can transfer into cell membranes such as lysosomes and exosomes. Therefore, the exchange method of the solubilizing agents not only creates novel solubilizing agent‐guest molecule complexes but also is applied to drug delivery systems.