679-687Microwave assisted facile synthesis of
hydrophobically modified nano-sized particulate esters of agarose and stearic
and palmitic acids (Ag-SA and Ag-PA), employing carbodiimide chemistry has been
described. The hydrophobically modified agarose is capable of forming
self-assembled nano-sized particles. Physicochemical characterization of Ag-SA,
Ag-PA has been carried out by gel permeation chromatography, differential
scanning calorimetric, scanning electron microscopy and FT-IR, 13C-NMR
and 1H-NMR spectra. The aqueous self-assembly of the modified
polymer has been studied by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron
microscopy, which shows the formation of 4-5 nm micelles, and 220-250 nm
polymeric vesicles. TEM images demonstrate that the self-aggregate is spherical
in shape. These new agarose based nano-sized materials may be of
potential utility in biomedical applications as drug delivery vehicles