Facile Access to Piezoelectric Polyamides by Polyamidation of Carboxylic Acids and Ynamides for Potent Tumor Immunotherapy
Abstract Polyamides are a fascinating group of piezoelectric materials that are largely synthesized by the polycondesation of dicarboxylic acids with diamines or the ring‐opening polymerization of special lactams. However, developing a green polymerization approach for the facile synthesis of piezoelectric polyamides is highly desirable but also challenging. Here, a simple polyamidation of carboxylic acids and ynamides is successfully established to synthesize versatile piezoelectric polyamides. This polymerization also possesses the merits of 100% atom economy, no waste generation, and additive‐free as well as catalyst‐free system. A range of polyamides are synthesized in moderate to good yields with satisfactory molecular weights. Importantly, piezoelectric polyamides containing tetraphenylethene (P 1e/2b ) can generate a bundant reactive oxygen species under ultrasound (US) exposure, thereby eliciting robust immunogenic cell death induction for augmented piezoelectric immunotherapy. Furthermore, P 1e/2b exhibits distinctive aggregation‐induced emission property that allows fluorescence imaging. In vivo evaluation using a bilateral tumor‐bearing mouse model manifested that P 1e/2b administration reinforced systemic immunity and triggered immune memory under US exposure, thereby leading to primary tumor eradication and distant tumor suppression. Therefore, this work represents a transition‐metal‐free and waste‐free polymerization paradigm for the construction of piezoelectric polyamides, providing a distinct strategy to designing new piezoelectric polymers for effective tumor immunotherapy.
Authors
- Ryan T. K. Kwok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6866-3877)
- Xiang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8679-4491)
- Jianwei Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2470-1077)
- Ming Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6565-699X)
- Ruirui Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9400-1105)
- Jacky W. Y. Lam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5754-1703)
- Huijing Xiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7465-3392)
- Ben Zhong Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0293-964X)
- Xingguang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3617-1827)
Institutions
- Shanghai University (CN)
- East China University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2025-03-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202424923
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Synthesis and properties of polymers
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.82