“…Poly(maleic anhydride)-based polymers, often used as block copolymers, have provided chemists with a great platform for introducing a variety of lateral functionalities along a polymer backbone, yielding multifunctional materials that have found use in a wide range of applications. − This is facilitated by the effectiveness of reacting anhydride rings with nucleophilic molecules (e.g., H 2 N–R), via the reagent-free nucleophilic attack. As such, the transformation of various poly(maleic anhydride)-based compounds with an array of amine-terminated groups has allowed the preparation of multifunctional polymers that have found use in the surface coating and functionalization of colloidal nanomaterials, ,,− the design of drug delivery vehicles, , and the preparation of antibacterial agents . For instance, the groups of Parak and co-workers and Colvin and co-workers have exploited this reaction route to transform poly(maleic anhydride- alt -1-octadecene), PMAO, into amphiphilic polymers suited for encapsulating colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots, QDs) and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs). , Starting with poly(isobutylene- alt -maleic anhydride), PIMA, we have used the nucleophilic addition reaction to prepare a set of hydrophilic multicoordinating ligands and applied them to coat various colloidal nanocrystals (e.g., Au nanostructures, luminescent QDs, and IONPs). ,, Conversely, Haldar and co-workers exploited this transformation reaction, applied to PIMA, to prepare a set of cationic polymers as mimics of antimicrobial peptides and tested their effectiveness against pathogenic bacteria …”