Amphiphilic and Perfluorinated Poly(3-Hydroxyalkanoate) Nanocapsules for 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Nanoparticles have recently emerged as valuable tools in biomedical imaging techniques. Here PEGylated and fluorinated nanocapsules based on poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate) containing a liquid core of perfluorooctyl bromide PFOB were formulated by an emulsion-evaporation process as potential 19F MRI imaging agents. Unsaturated poly(hydroxyalkanoate), PHAU, was produced by marine bacteria using coprah oil and undecenoic acid as substrates. PHA-g-(F; PEG) was prepared by two successive controlled thiol-ene reactions from PHAU with firstly three fluorinated thiols having from 3 up to 17 fluorine atoms and secondly with PEG-SH. The resulting PHA-g-(F; PEG)-based PFOB nanocapsules, with a diameter close to 250–300 nm, are shown to be visible in 19F MRI with an acquisition time of 15 min. The results showed that PFOB-nanocapsules based on PHA-g-(F; PEG) have the potential to be used as novel contrast agents for 19F MRI.

Perfluoro-tert-butanol: a cornerstone for high performance 19F magnetic resonance imaging

As a valuable complement to its proton-based counterpart (1H MRI/NMR), fluorine-based magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy (19F MRI/NMR) provides quantitative images or spectroscopy without background interference, which has become an extensively used...

Tuning the Thermoresponsive Properties of PEG-Based Fluorinated Polymers and Stimuli Responsive Drug Release for Switchable 19F Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A series of terpolymers of styrene, oligoethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate and 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acrylate were synthesized by free radical polymerization. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the polymers was...