Application of nanocarriers for drug delivery brings numerous advantages, allowing both minimization of side effects common in systemic drug delivery and improvement in targeting, which has made it the focal point of nanoscience for a number of years. While most of the studies are focused on encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs, delivery of hydrophilic compounds is typically performed via covalent attachment, which often requires chemical modification of the drug and limits the release kinetics. In this paper, we report synthesis of biphilic copolymers of various compositions capable of self-assembly in water with the formation of nanoparticles and suitable for ionic binding of the common anticancer drug doxorubicin. The copolymers are synthesized by radical copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and acrylic acid using n-octadecyl-mercaptan as a chain transfer agent. With an increase of the carboxyl group’s share in the chain, the role of the electrostatic stabilization factor of the nanoparticles increased as well as the ability of doxorubicin as an ion binder. A mathematical description of the kinetics of doxorubicin binding and release is given and thermodynamic functions for the equilibrium ionic binding of doxorubicin are calculated.

Co-delivery of chemotherapeutics in cancer treatment has been proven essential for overcoming multidrug resistance and improving the outcome of therapy. We report the synthesis of amphiphilic copolymers of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone and allyl glycidyl ether of various compositions and demonstrate that they can form nanoaggregates capable of simultaneous covalent immobilization of doxorubicin by the epoxy groups in the shell and hydrophobic-driven incorporation of paclitaxel into the core of nanoparticles. The structure of the obtained copolymers was characterized by ¹³C NMR, IR, and MALDI spectroscopy, as well as adsorption at the water/toluene interface. A linear increase in the number-average molecular weight of amphiphilic copolymers and a decrease in the number-average diameter of macromolecular aggregates with an increase in the ratio N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone/allyl glycidyl ether were observed. The assembled nanocarriers were characterized by DLS. The reported novel nanocarriers can be of interest for delivery and co-delivery of a wide range of pharmacological preparations and combined therapy for cancer and other deceases.

The kinetic regularities of the initial stage of chemical oxidative polymerization of methylene blue under the action of ammonium peroxodisulfate in an aqueous medium have been established by the method of potentiometry. It was shown that the methylene blue polymerization mechanism includes the stages of chain initiation and growth. It was found that the rate of the initial stage of the reaction obeys the kinetic equation of the first order with the activation energy 49 kJ · mol⁻¹. Based on the proposed mechanism of oxidative polymerization of methylene blue and the data of MALDI, EPR, and IR spectroscopy methods, the structure of the polymethylene blue chain is proposed. It has been shown that polymethylene blue has a metallic luster, and its electrical conductivity is probably the result of conjugation over extended chain sections and the formation of charge transfer complexes. It was found that polymethylene blue is resistant to heating up to a temperature of 440 K and then enters into exothermic transformations without significant weight loss. When the temperature rises above 480 K, polymethylene blue is subject to endothermic degradation and retains 75% of its mass up to 1000 K.