Molecular specification of homopolymer of vinylbenzyl-lactose-amide in aqueous solution

The lactose-carrying polystyrene derivative, PVLA, is known as the material suitable for the incubation of liver cells and for drug delivery systems. PVLA was dissolved in 0.1 M urea aqueous solution, and its structure was an alyzed from the results of small-angle X-ray scattering and the molecular m odeling. PVLA was found to have the shape of a molecular bottlebrush in sol ution, composed of a large pseudo helix of polystyrene backbone. The amphip hilic nature of the backbone and side chains is thought to determine the ba ckbone conformation.