Title of Paper:A Dense-Shell Macromolecular Scaffold for Catalyst- or Substrate-Guided Catalysis in a Cellular Environment

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Date of Publication:2021-01-10

Journal:ACS MATERIALS LETTERS

Volume:2

Issue:1

Page Number:89-94

Abstract:Placing metal complexes in macromolecular scaffolds has shown its usefulness in improving catalytic activity for synthetic purposes and reactions in biological environments. Here, we show that a star polymer scaffold with a dense shell and a concentrated ligand core can be readily synthesized from an integrated polymerization-crosslinking process mediated directly by a tris-triazole ligand. The straightforward synthesis can give well-defined polymeric nanoparticles with a core-shell structure, with a dense polymeric shell protecting the ligands in the core that are readily available for metal coordination. Using copper and palladium catalyst as examples, we show that those macro molecular Cu and Pd catalysts can mediate aqueous "click" reactions and propargyl carbamate deprotection, respectively. The scaffolds not only grant protection and stabilization of the catalytic centers, but, more importantly, they also can be tuned to promote reactions in different cellular locations in mammalian cells, and the localization of the products are guided by either the catalytic scaffold or specially designed substrates.