Abstract
A new route for the synthesis of novel amphiphilic polysaccharides was developed, in which a synthetic biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone) was capped with a phenylalanine group (PCL-phenylalanine). The ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) was carried out in the absence of a metal catalyst with L-phenylalanine as the initiator; this was followed by a coupling reaction with biodegradable dextran in the presence of carbonyldimidazole. The FTIR and 1H NMR analyses confirm the coupling reaction. Fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) confirm that in aqueous solution the amphiphilic polysaccharides self-assemble into the nanoscale spherical micelles with good stability. The in vitro drug release behavior of the nonsteroidal indomethacin drug exhibits sustained drug release profile as described by the Higuchi model without a burst effect.
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
