Wang Dali, Tong Gangsheng, Dong Ruijiao, Zhou Yongfeng, Shen Jian, Zhu Xinyuan
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, 200240 Shanghai, P. R. China.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2014 Oct 18;50(81):11994-2017. doi: 10.1039/c4cc03155e.
Noncovalent interactions provide a flexible method of engineering various chemical entities with tailored properties. Specific noncovalent interactions between functionalized small molecules, macromolecules or both of them bearing complementary binding sites can be used to engineer supramolecular complexes that display unique structure and properties of polymers, which can be defined as supramolecularly engineered polymers. Due to their dynamic tunable structures and interesting physical/chemical properties, supramolecularly engineered polymers have recently received more and more attention from both academia and industry. In this feature article, we summarize the recent progress in the self-assembly of supramolecularly engineered polymers as well as their biomedical applications. In view of different molecular building units, the supramolecularly engineered polymers can be classified into the following three major types: supramolecularly engineered polymers built by small molecules, supramolecularly engineered polymers built by small molecules and macromolecules, and supramolecularly engineered polymers built by macromolecules, which possess distinct morphologies, definite architectures and specific functions. Owing to the reversible nature of the noncovalent interactions, the supramolecularly engineered polymers have exhibited unique features or advantages in molecular self-assembly, for example, facile preparation and functionalization, controllable morphologies and structures, dynamic self-assembly processes, adjustable performance, and so on. Furthermore, the self-assembled supramolecular structures hold great potential as promising candidates in various biomedical fields, including bioimaging, drug delivery, gene transfection, protein delivery, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Such developments in the self-assembly of supramolecularly engineered polymers and their biomedical applications greatly promote the interdiscipline research among supramolecular chemistry, polymer materials, biomedicine, nano-science and technology.
非共价相互作用提供了一种灵活的方法来设计具有定制性质的各种化学实体。功能化小分子、大分子或两者之间带有互补结合位点的特定非共价相互作用可用于构建超分子复合物，这些复合物展现出聚合物独特的结构和性质，可将其定义为超分子工程聚合物。由于其结构具有动态可调性以及有趣的物理/化学性质，超分子工程聚合物最近在学术界和工业界都受到了越来越多的关注。在这篇专题文章中，我们总结了超分子工程聚合物自组装及其生物医学应用的最新进展。鉴于不同的分子构建单元，超分子工程聚合物可分为以下三大类：由小分子构建的超分子工程聚合物、由小分子和大分子构建的超分子工程聚合物以及由大分子构建的超分子工程聚合物，它们具有不同的形态、确定的结构和特定的功能。由于非共价相互作用的可逆性，超分子工程聚合物在分子自组装中展现出独特的特征或优势，例如，制备和功能化简便、形态和结构可控、动态自组装过程、性能可调节等等。此外，自组装的超分子结构在包括生物成像、药物递送、基因转染、蛋白质递送、再生医学和组织工程等各种生物医学领域作为有前景的候选物具有巨大潜力。超分子工程聚合物自组装及其生物医学应用的这些进展极大地促进了超分子化学、聚合物材料、生物医学、纳米科学与技术之间的跨学科研究。
