Micellar paclitaxel-initiated raft polymer conjugates with acid-sensitive behavior

Acid-sensitive paclitaxel (PTX)–polymer conjugates were designed by applying a grafting-from-drug RAFT approach. PTX was linked through either a cyclic or a linear, acid-sensitive acetal moiety. Relative to direct esterification of PTX, which occurred regioselectively at the C2′ OH-group, direct acetalization was observed at either the C2′ or the C7 OH-group of PTX. This yielded two regioisomers of acetal-based PTX-functionalized RAFT chain transfer agents (CTAs). Subsequent polymerization with N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) resulted in amphiphilic highly defined, acetal-based PTX–polymer conjugates with nearly identical features in terms of polymer definition and micellar self-assembly behavior, but with distinct PTX release kinetics and absence of burst release. This was further reflected by their in vitro biological performance, giving insights into the difference of the release mechanism between ester- and acetal-based PTX–polymer conjugates.