Herein, we describe a means of chemical amplification to accelerate triggered degradation of a polymer and particles composed thereof. We designed a light-degradable random copolymer containing both carboxylic acids masked by photolabile groups and ketals. Cleavage of the photocages allows the unmasked acidic groups in the polymer backbone to accelerate ketal hydrolysis, through intramolecular acid catalysis, even at neutral pH. Whereas triggered release using most light-degradable polymers requires lengthy irradiation times that may damage biological systems, release of cargo from nanoparticles composed of this polymer requires only a few minutes of low-power irradiation.

Light-triggered chemical amplification to accelerate degradation and release from polymeric particles

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.