Research
Polymeric cyclodextrins for drug delivery: design, synthesis, physicochemical and biological characterization
Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides consisting of 6, 7, or 8 glucopyranose units, bound through 1–4 bonds, with a hydrophilic outer surface and a hydrophobic cavity that can host different classes of molecules. The chemical versatility of CDs allows them to be reinvented by modifying their primary and/or secondary face with moieties of different nature, thus tailoring their physicochemical properties and recognition abilities. If the cavity of the modified CDs remains available, it can be complexed with a single molecule or with a building block, resulting in sophisticated molecular architectures that give rise to supramolecular materials with tunable properties. In this regard, we seek to design and synthesize novel CD derivatives for their application in drug delivery. We are currently working on pegylated and dendronized CDs. We synthesize the derivatives and study their physicochemical and biological properties.
