Characterizing the effect of catalyst-imbued amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles' structure on the catalytic activity in water.

Single chain polymeric nanoparticles (SCPNs) formed from amphiphilic heterograft polymers are versatile platforms in biomedicine as drug delivery vehicles, sensors or for imaging. We are developing SCPNs as bio-orthogonal catalysts for catalysis in vitro en-route to in situ drug synthesis for cancer therapies and reduced side effects. We developed transition metal loaded nanometre-sized polymeric nanoparticles loaded with Pd, Cu, or Rh-based catalysts, for specific reactions in water and bio-media. We are currently studying the structure-activity relationships both at ensemble and single molecule level, on amphiphilic polymers with variations in hydrophobic, hydrophilic and supramolecular grafts content. Therefore, it is of great interest to study the size, shape, and compactness of these catalytic nanoparticles in order to understand the influence of their microstructure on the catalytic activity.