Amphiphilic β‐cyclodextrin‐based star‐like block copolymer unimolecular micelles for facile in situ preparation of gold nanoparticles

Multifunctional polymer unimolecular micelles, which are used as templates to fabricate stable gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in one‐step without external reductant, have been designed and prepared. Amphiphilic 21‐arm star‐like block copolymers β‐cyclodextrin‐{poly(lactide)‐poly(2‐(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate)‐poly[oligo(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline)methacrylate]}₂₁ [β‐CD‐(PLA‐PDMAEMA‐PEtOxMA)₂₁] and the precursors are synthesized by the combination of ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) and activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP). The tertiary amine groups of PDMAEMA block reduce the counterion to zerovalent gold in situ, and these gold atoms combine mutually to form final GNPs. GNPs with relatively small size and narrow size distribution can be obtained in longer DMAEMA block copolymer, larger molar ratio of DMAEMA to HAuCl₄ and smaller absolute concentrations of both polymer and HAuCl₄. These results showed that the unimolecular micelles can be used as templates for preparing and stabilizing GNPs in situ without any external reducing agents and organic solvents, suggesting that the nanocomposite systems are latent nanocarriers for further biomedical application. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 186–196     

Direct Cyclodextrin‐Mediated Ring Opening Polymerization of ϵ‐Caprolactone in the Presence of Yttrium Trisphenolate Catalyst

Unmodified β‐cyclodextrin has been directly used to initiate ring‐opening polymerization of ϵ‐caprolactone in the presence of yttrium trisphenolate. Well‐defined cyclodextrin (CD)‐centered star‐shaped poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)s have been successfully synthesized containing definite average numbers of arms (N_arm = 4–6) and narrow polydispersity indexes (below 1.10). The number‐average molecular weight ( ) and average molecular weight per arm ( ) are controlled by the feeding molar ratio of monomer to initiator. The prepared star‐PCL with of 2.7 × 10³ is in fully amorphous and that with of 13.3 × 10³ is crystallized. In addition, the obtained poly(e‐caprolactone) (PCL) stars with various molecular weights have different solubilities in methanol and tetrahydrofuran, which can be applied for further modifications.     

Lepton-number-violating decays of singly-charged Higgs bosons in the type-(Ⅰ+Ⅱ) seesaw model

The lepton-number-violating decays of singly-charged Higgs bosons H± are investigated in the minimal type-(Ⅰ+Ⅱ) seesaw model with one SU(2)L Higgs triplet Δ and one heavy Majorana neutrino N1 at the TeV scale.We find that the branching ratios B(H+ → lα+ ν)(for α = e,μ,τ) depend not only on the mass and mixing parameters of three light neutrinos νi(for i=1,2,3) but also on those of N1.Assuming that the mass of N1 lies in the range of 200 GeV to 1 TeV,we figure out the generous interference bands for the contributions of νi and N1 to B(H+ →lα+ ν).We illustrate some salient features of such interference effects by considering three typical mass patterns of νi,and show that the relevant Majorana CP-violating phases can affect the magnitudes of B(H+ →l+αν) in this parameter region.     

Letter: Behavior of Magnetic Tubes in Neutron Star's Interior

It is found from Maxwell's equations that the magnetic field lines are good analogues of relativistic strings. It is shown that the superconducting current in the neutron star's interior causes local rotation of magnetic flux tubes carrying quantized flux.     

Cooling Curve of Strange Star in Strong Magnetic Field

In this paper, firstly, we investigate the neutrino emissivity from quark Urca process in strong magnetic field. Then, we discuss the heat capacity of strange stars in strong magnetic field. Finally, we give the cooling curve in strong magnetic field. In order to make a comparison, we also give the corresponding cooling curve in the case of null magnetic field. It turns out that strange stars cool faster in strong magnetic field than that without magnetic field.     

Synthesis,Photophysics and Redox Properties of Aza-BODIPY Dyes with Electron-Donating Groups

A series of novel aza-BODIPY dyes substituted with p-(dimethylamino)phenyl groups were synthesized and their spectral and electrochemical properties were compared. In particular, the impact of p-(Me₂N)Ph- groups on these characteristics was of consideration. For two aza-BODIPYs studied, a near-IR absorption band was observed at circa λ_abs=796 nm. Due to the pronounced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) exerted by the presence of strongly electron-donating p-(Me₂N)Ph- substituents, the compounds studied were weakly emissive with the singlet lifetimes (τ_S) in the picosecond range. Nanosecond laser photolysis experiments of the brominated aza-BODIPYs revealed T₁→T_n absorption spanning from ca. 350 nm to ca. 550 nm with the triplet lifetimes (τ_T) ranged between 6.0 μs and 8.5 μs. The optical properties of the aza-BODIPYs studied were pH-sensitive. Upon protonation of the dimethylamino groups with trifluoroacetic acid in toluene, a stepwise disappearance of the NIR absorption band at λ_abs=790 nm was observed with the concomitant appearance of a blue-shifted absorption band at λ_abs=652 nm, which was accompanied by a prominent emission band at λ_fl=680 nm. The transformation from a non-emissive to an emissive compound is associated with the inhibition of the ICT. As estimated by CV/DPV measurements, all aza-BODIPYs studied exhibited two irreversible oxidation and two quasi-reversible reduction processes. All compounds studied exhibit extremely high photostability and thermal stability.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Star‐Shaped Diblock Poly(ε‐caprolactone)/Poly(ethylene oxide) Copolymers

Summary: Star‐shaped hydroxy‐terminated poly(ε‐caprolactone)s (ssPCL), with arms of different lengths, were obtained by ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‐caprolactone initiated by pentaerythritol, and were condensed with α‐methyl‐ω‐(3‐carboxypropionyloxy)‐poly(ethylene oxide)s ( = 550–5 000) to afford four‐armed PCL‐PEO star diblock copolymers (ssPCL‐PEO). The polymers were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and size‐exclusion chromatography (SEC). The melting behavior of ssPCLs was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). X‐ray diffraction and DSC techniques were used to investigate the crystalline phases of ssPCL‐PEOs.

The part of the synthesis of four‐armed star‐shaped diblock poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐poly(ethylene oxide) copolymers as described.     

Synthesis,characterization, and rheological properties of multiarm stars with poly(glycidol) core and poly(methyl methacrylate) arms by AGET ATRP

Well‐defined multiarm star block copolymers poly(glycidol)‐b‐poly(methyl methacrylate) (PGOHBr‐b‐PMMA_x) with an average number of PMMA arms of 85, 55, and 45 have been prepared. The core‐first approach has been selected as the methodology using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of MMA from an activated hyperbranched poly(glycidol) as the core. These activated hyperbranched macroinitiators were prepared by esterification of hyperbranched poly(glycidol) (PGOH) with 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide. The effect of monomer/initiator ratio, catalyst concentration, time, temperature, and solvent on the growing of the arms has been studied in detail in order to optimize the process and to diminish the radical‐radical coupling. The final products and intermediates were characterized by means of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform‐infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The length of PMMA arms was determined by SEC after cleavage of ester bond linked to PGOH core. Glass transition temperature (T_g), thermal stability and rheological properties of the multiarm star copolymers were also studied. Finally, tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) allowed the clear visualization of nano‐sized particles (80–200 nm) corresponding to individual star molecules. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011