153110 20260422084202.0 doi 10.1002/marc.202500029 sideral 143565 ART-2025-143565 eng Martín-Martín, Javier Degradable Ureido‐Polycarbonate Block Copolymers with a Complex UCST Thermoresponse 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted In this work, amphiphilic block copolymers (BCs) consisting of a hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (PEG) and a degradable polycarbonate block derived from 2,2‐bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid (bis‐MPA) with pendant ureido units, along with corresponding homopolycarbonates are described. Polymers are synthesized by combining ring opening polymerization (ROP) and thiol‐ene/yne functionalization to incorporate UCST‐promoting ureido groups. For homopolycarbonates, increasing the ureido groups density along the polymer chain facilitates the upper critical solution temperature (UCST)‐type thermoresponse in water. Because of their amphiphilic character, BCs form stable self‐assemblies either by direct dispersion in water, co‐solvent method or microfluidics. Upon heating, these self‐assemblies swell, and collapse due to extensive hydration of the polycarbonate block, rather than becoming solubilized. Thermoresponsiveness is analyzed in terms of the number of ureido groups in the polycarbonate for a given polycarbonate block length as well as the length of polycarbonate block. As a proof of concept, the potential of these self‐assemblies as thermoresponsive drug nanocarriers is evaluated, using curcumin as a hydrophobic model drug. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E47-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/LMP 93-21 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2021-1261132NB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICIU/CEX2023-001286-S info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Abad, Miriam Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-8677-3316 López de Pariza, Xabier Ezquerra, Tiberio A. Nogales, Aurora Sardón, Haritz Sebastián, Víctor Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-6873-5244 Oriol, Luis Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-0922-5615 Piñol, Milagros Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-5556-2172 5005 555 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ing.Quím.Tecnol.Med.Amb. Área Ingeniería Química 2013 765 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Química Orgánica Área Química Orgánica 46, 14 (2025), e2500029 [13 pp.] Macromol. rapid commun. Macromolecular Rapid Communications 1022-1336 3188796 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/153110/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2430658 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/153110/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:153110 articulos driver 2026-04-22-08:40:05 ARTICLE