10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00676.s001 Matthew Skinner Matthew Skinner Brandon M. Johnston Brandon M. Johnston Yalin Liu Yalin Liu Brenton Hammer Brenton Hammer Ryan Selhorst Ryan Selhorst Ioanna Xenidou Ioanna Xenidou Sarah L. Perry Sarah L. Perry Todd Emrick Todd Emrick Synthesis of Zwitterionic Pluronic Analogs American Chemical Society 2018 Pluronic block copolymers methacrylate monomers zwitteronic nanoparticles LCST zwitterion moieties water-dispersible zwitterionic triblock copolymers PC content HLB PC-zwitteronic embedding functionality PPO block zwitterionic analogs chemical structures Zwitterionic Pluronic Analogs Novel polymer amphiphiles Pluronic amphiphiles nanoparticle-cross-linked hydrogels solution temperature alkyne groups block copolymer composition CP composition-independent surfactant characteristics CAC aggregation concentrations chemical versatility tunable sizes 47 mol percent choline phosphate 2018-07-19 18:49:40 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Synthesis_of_Zwitterionic_Pluronic_Analogs/6843545 Novel polymer amphiphiles with chemical structures designed as zwitterionic analogs of Pluronic block copolymers were prepared by controlled free radical polymerization of phosphorylcholine (PC) or choline phosphate (CP) methacrylate monomers from a difunctional poly­(propylene oxide) (PPO) macroinitiator. Well-defined, water-dispersible zwitterionic triblock copolymers, or “zwitteronics”, were prepared with PC content ranging from 5 to 47 mol percent and composition-independent surfactant characteristics in water, which deviate from the properties of conventional Pluronic amphiphiles. These PC-zwitteronics assembled into nanoparticles in water, with tunable sizes and critical aggregation concentrations (CACs) based on their hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB). Owing to the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) miscibility of the hydrophobic PPO block in water, PC-zwitteronics exhibited thermoreversible aqueous solubility tuned by block copolymer composition. The chemical versatility of this approach was demonstrated by embedding functionality, in the form of alkyne groups, directly into the zwitterion moieties. These alkynes proved ideal for cross-linking the zwitteronic nanoparticles and for generating nanoparticle-cross-linked hydrogels using UV-initiated thiol–yne “click” chemistry.