A Facile and Green Approach for the Preparation of Amine-Functionalized Poly(ethylene glycol) by Reducing Poly(ethylene glycol) Azide with Dithiothreitol.

A facile and green approach for the preparation of PEG-NHs from PEG-Ns in water with DTT as the reduction reagent has been developed, avoiding the introduction of metal ions and difficulties in purification compared to the traditional synthesis process of PEG-NHs. A series of high-purity linear and multiarm PEG-NHs with different molecular weights were synthesized, demonstrating the versatility of this method. Additionally, HS-PEG-NH with high fidelity of thiol and amine was easily prepared through the one-step two functional group conversion of N-PEG-S-S-PEG-N, and the PEG-based NH-PEG@AuNPs were also prepared. This technology will promote the application of PEG-NHs in the fields of medicine and biomaterials.