The Pd-catalyzed precise synthesis of self-assembled fluorescent nanoprobes with different molecular weights for enhancing the permeability of cell membrane and targeting lysosomes.

As a common polymer, poly (dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) is mainly used to synthesize medical materials. However, there are few reports about the related polymer fluorescent probes. Moreover, as far as we know, no one has studied the effect of its molecular weight on the performance of polymer probes. In this work, polymer probes (NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (4) , NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (9) , NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (23) , NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (34) ) with different molecular weights were accurately constructed based on 1,8-naphthalimide fluorophore and poly(N , N -dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) and their photophysical properties were systematically studied. The test results showed that they all showed good photophysical properties. Moreover, the polymer probe NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (23) , which had the best self-assembly effect and good cell permeability, was successfully screened by confocal fluorescence imaging technology. Not only that, the probe NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (23) could also label lysosomes in cells quickly and accurately. Therefore, this work provided important reference to construct relevant polymer probes with good cell permeability in the future. [Display omitted] • A series of polymer probes with different molecular weights were accurately constructed by simple synthesis method. • A series of polymer probes exhibited good photophysical properties. • The polymer probe NapNH 2 -PDM-C could perfectly self-assemble into nanoparticles in water. • The influence of different molecular weights on the cell permeability of polymer probe was studied. • The polymer probe NapNH 2 (1) -PDM (23) could realize rapid and accurate targeted imaging of lysosomes in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]