ABSTRACT
The synthesis of polymer nanoparticles with controlled characteristics has become an appealing research topic lately. Nanomedicine and, especially, drug delivery and imaging are fields that require particles with controlled size and tailored arrangement of functional groups. Intramolecular cross-linking or collapse of single polymeric chain has emerged as an alternative to the synthesis of well-defined polymeric nanoparticles. The method allows the synthesis of particles of 1.5-20 nm size with a wide variety of chemical composition and functionalities. This chapter discusses the synthetic strategies described in the literature and groups them into four main methods: homo-functional collapse, hetero-functional collapse, cross-linker-mediated collapse, and one-block collapse of diblock or triblock copolymers. Then, the text describes main characterization techniques and physical properties of single-chain polymeric nanoparticles. Finally, some applications in nanomedicine are discussed and the chapter finishes with future perspectives.
