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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Anionic Polymerization of an Amphiphilic Copolymer for Preparation of Block Copolymer Micelles Stabilized by π-π Stacking Interactions
Published on: October 10, 2016
Polymeric Micelles Based on Modified Glycol Chitosan for Paclitaxel Delivery: Preparation, Characterization and
Na Liang1, Shaoping Sun2, Xianfeng Gong3
1Key Laboratory of Photochemical Biomaterials and Energy Storage Materials, Heilongjiang Province, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, China. liangna528@163.com.
Abstract:
Amphiphilic polymer of α-tocopherol succinate modified glycol chitosan (TS-GC) was successfully constructed by conjugating α-tocopherol succinate to the skeleton of glycol chitosan and characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR). In aqueous milieu, the conjugates self-assembled to micelles with the critical aggregation concentration of 7.2 × 10−3 mg/mL. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were carried out to determine the physicochemical properties of the micelles. The results revealed that paclitaxel (PTX)-loaded TS-GC micelles were spherical in shape. Moreover, the PTX-loaded micelles showed increased particle sizes (35 nm vs. 142 nm) and a little reduced zeta potential (+19 mV vs. +16 mV) compared with blank micelles. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra demonstrated that PTX existed inside the micelles in amorphous or molecular state. In vitro and in vivo tests showed that the PTX-loaded TS-GC micelles had advantages over the Cremophor EL-based formulation in terms of low toxicity level and increased dose, which suggested the potential of the polymer as carriers for PTX to improve their delivery properties.
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