Preparation of polymeric micelles consisting of poly(propylene glycol) and poly(caprolactone)

The ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone (CL) was carried out with polypropylene glycol (PPG) as an initiator in the presence of the monomer activator HCl. Et2O to synthesize poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-poly(propyleneglycol)-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL-PPG-PCL) triblock copolymers with change of length PPG and PCL. The micelle formation of PCL-PPG-PCL triblock copolymers in an aqueous phase was confirmed by NMR, dynamic light scattering and fluorescence techniques. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the PCL-PPG-PCL triblock copolymers, determined from fluorescence measurements, was in range of 1.4 x 10(-3)-4.6 x 10(-3) mg/ml with dependence on block lengths of PPG and PCL. The partition equilibrium constant, K(v), which is an indicator of the hydrophobicity of the micelles of the PCL-PPG-PCL triblock copolymers in aqueous media, was also changed with dependence on length PPG and PCL. We confirmed that the PCL-PPG-PCL triblock copolymers formed micelles and hence may be potential hydrophobic drug carriers.