Presentation: 2025 ND EPSCoR Annual conference
October 21, 2025, NDSU Memorial Union, Fargo, North Dakota
Synthesis of Amphiphilic Polyesters: Ring-Opening Copolymerization of PEG-Functionalized Epoxides and Cyclic Anhydrides for Polymeric Micelle Formation
Riswat
Musbau
Doctoral Student
University of North Dakota
Co-authors: Jude A. Musongong Mr. University of North Dakota, Yingfen Wu, Dr. University of North Dakota, Guodong Du, Prof. University of North Dakota
Session
Concurrent Presentation Session C, Group 1
Prairie Rose Room
Polymeric micelles have captured significant interest as a promising method for drug delivery because of their unique core-shell structure. This structure makes them water soluble while also providing a hydrophobic core, which is ideal for carrying hydrophobic drugs. In this work, we report a ring-opening copolymerization approach between epoxides and cyclic anhydrides, affording a series of facially amphiphilic polyesters derived from alkyl-substituted succinic anhydrides (OSA, TPSA, and ODSA) and PEG-substituted glycidyl ether (PEGGE). The polyesters were characterized by using techniques such as 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, DSC, and GPC analyses, and their self-assembly behavior in aqueous and non-polar solvents was examined through fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results revealed that these facially amphiphilic polyesters self-organize in water to form nano size micelles. TEM analysis verified the effective formation of spherical micelles in all copolymer formulations. In contrast, when placed in a nonpolar solvent, they assembled into reverse micelles with a smaller size and spherical shapes.