Targeted Drug Delivery: Synthesis of Smart Nanocarriers for School Chemistry Education

This publication presents a series of experiments in the field of nanomedicine for high school chemistry education and student laboratories, developed as a collaborative project between chemistry didactics and chemical research. In this context, polymeric nanocarriers represent a promising approach for drug delivery, acting as “smart packaging material” to ensure transport to the desired location in the body and a targeted release. This offers the opportunity of a locally higher drug concentration while reducing the overall dose administered and minimizing side effects of the drugs. In this article, we illustrate how this attractive field of research can be linked to polymer chemistry as a classical school topic through the model of transfer research. In addition, we present three experiments where polymer nanocarriers are (1) synthesized and (2) loaded with a fluorescent model substance, which is (3) selectively released through the degradation of the polyester carrier via hydrolysis. All experiments can be performed with simple and harmless chemicals within a time frame of two school lessons.