Enzymatic synthesis of glycerol, azido-glycerol and azido-triglycerol based amphiphilic copolymers and their relevance as nanocarriers: A review

Abstract Amphiphilic polymeric nanocarriers have attained immense attention for transporting drugs and other bioactive species to the living systems owing to their high loading capacity and efficient internalization. To avoid the side-effects of undesired interactions within the biological system, the use of biocompatible building blocks is most crucial in preparing polymeric amphiphiles. The excellent biocompatibility and multivalency of both glycerol and triglycerol make them suitable monomers to construct macromolecular skeletons. Besides these, easy availability and remarkable aqueous solubility further enlarge their use in synthetic chemistry and give ample possibilities for creating fascinating entities for practical applications. The conversion of glycerol into azido-glycerol and azido-triglycerol further helped in differential functionalization of their polymers with various hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups in different ratios thereby assisting in tuning the amphiphilicity of resulting functionalized polymers. Herein, we review the enzymatic synthesis of glycerol, azido-glycerol and azido-triglycerol based amphiphilic polymeric architectures as nanocarriers for various bio-active species. Enzymatically synthesized linear copolymers synthesized by selective esterification of primary hydroxyl groups of glycerol and its derivatives with suitable diacids/diesters are explored in this review.