Effect of diblock copolymer properties on the photophysical properties of dendrimer silicon phthalocyanine nanoconjugates

1–2 generation poly(benzyl aryl ether) dendrimer silicon phthalocyanines with axially disubstituted cyano terminal functionalities (G n -DSiPc(CN)4n , (G n = n-generation dendrimer, n = 1–2)) were synthesized. Their structures were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR, and ESI-MS. Polymeric nanoparticles (G n -DSiPc(CN)4n /m) were formed through encapsulating G n -DSiPc(CN)4n into three monomethoxyl poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(e-caprolactone) diblock copolymers (MPEG–PCL) with different hydrophilic/hydrophobic proportion, respectively. The effect of dendritic generation and the hydrophilic/hydrophobic proportion of diblock copolymers on the UV/Vis and fluorescence spectra of G n -DSiPc(CN)4n and G n -DSiPc(CN)4n /m were studied. The photophysical properties of polymeric nanoparticles exhibited dendritic generation and hydrophilic/hydrophobic proportion dependence. The fluorescence intensities and lifetimes of G n -DSiPc(CN)4n /m were lower than the corresponding free dendrimer phthalocyanines. G n -DSiPc(CN)4n encapsulated into MPEG–PCL with hydrophilic/hydrophobic molecular weight ratio 2000:4000 exhibited excellent photophysical property. The mean diameter of MPEG2000–PCL2000 micelles was about 70 nm, which decreased when loaded with G n -DSiPc(CN)4n .