Facile Synthesis of Resveratrol Nanogels with Enhanced Fluorescent Emission.

Herein, a kind of fluorescent resveratrol nanogels via one-pot thiol-ene Michael addition polymerization of resveratrol triacrylate, 1,6-hexanedithiol, and methoxyl poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate is prepared. The resultant nanogels can be well-dispersed in water with a hydrodynamic radius of around 68 nm, and the nanogels are stable in both water and organic solvents. Moreover, the resveratrol nanogels exhibit elevated fluorescence intensity compared to free resveratrol, and the quantum yield of resveratrol nanogels is estimated to be 5.8 times as that of free resveratrol dispersed in water. Fluorescence image results also demonstrate that the resveratrol nanogels can be used for cell imaging in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Therefore, the resveratrol nanogels are expected to be used as a trackable drug delivery system.