DU, WENJUN

• Lingyao Li, Sampa Maiti, Nicole A. Thompson, Ian J. Milligan and Wenjun Du* Sugar Poly(orthoester) Underwent A Complete Cycle of Depolymerization and Repolymerization, ChemSusChem, 2017, 10, 4829–4832. (front cover)
• Lingyao Li, Kyle Knickelbein, Lin Zhang, Jun Wang, Melissa Obrinske, Gene Zhengxin Ma, Li-Ming Zhang, Lindsay Bitterman and Wenjun Du* Amphiphilic sugar poly(orthoesters) as pH-responsive nanoscopic assemblies for acidity-enhanced drug delivery and cell killing Chemical Communications 2015, 51, 13078-13081. (back cover)
• Lingyao Li, Jun Wang, Melissa Obrinske, Ian Milligan, Kylie O‘Hara, Lindsay Bitterman, Wenjun Du* Reverse Anomeric Effect (RAE)-mediated syntheses of sugar poly(orthoesters) Chemical Communications 2015, 51, 6972-6975.
• Kaijin Mai, Shanshan Zhang, Bing Liang, Cong Gao, Wenjun Du, Li-Ming Zhang*, Water soluble cationic dextran derivatives containing poly(amidoamine) dendrons for efficient gene delivery, Carbohydrate Polymers, 2015, 123, 237-245.
• Chaoping Fu, Hailiang Li, Nannan Li, Xiangwan Miao, Minqiang Xie, Wenjun Du, Li-Ming Zhang*, Conjugating an anticancer drug onto thiolated hyaluronic acid by acid liable hydrazone linkage for its gelation and dual stimuli-response release, Carbohydrate Polymers, 2015, 128, 5,163-170.
• Liye Fu, Lingyao, Li, Jun Wang, Kyle Knickelbein, Lin Zhang, Ian Milligan, Yi Xu, Kylie O'Hara, Lindsay Bitterman, Wenjun Du* Synthesis of clickable amphiphilic polysaccharides as nanoscopic assemblies Chemical Communications, 2014, 50, 12742-12745.
• Lingyao Li, Yi Xu, Ian Milligan, Liye Fu, Emily A. Franckowiak, Wenjun Du* Synthesis of highly pH-responsive glucose poly(orthoester) Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2013, 52, 13699 –13702. (inside cover)
• Lingyao Li, Emily A. Franckowiak, Yi Xu, Evan McClain, Wenjun Du* Efficient synthesis of beta-(1,6)-linked oligosaccharides through Microwave-assisted glycosylation Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry 2013, 51, 3693–3699.
• Choon Young Lee, Rich Held, Ajit Sharma, Rom Baral, Cyprien Nanah, Dan Dumas, Shannon Jenkins, Samik K. Upadhaya, Wenjun Du* Copper granule-catalyzed and microwave-assisted click synthesis of polyphenol dendrimers The Journal of Organic Chemistry 2013, 78, 11221–11228.
• Joan G. Schellinger, Avinash Kudupudi, Arutselvan Natarajan, Wenjun Du, Sally J. DeNardob Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague* A general chemical synthesis platform for crosslinking multivalent single chain variable fragments Organic Biomolecular Chemistry 2012, 10, 1521-1524.
  

• Chemical syntheses of polysaccharides 
• Application of polysaccharides as novel biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug packaging/delivery

Current Research Projects

• Chemical Synthesis of Polysaccharides. Natural polysaccharides are biocompatible and biodegradable; they are ideal biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery. However, several drawbacks such as undefined structure and difficulty to process have limited their potentials in biomedical applications. Synthetic polysaccharides are better alternatives with desired molecular weight and defined structure. In this research, polysaccharides are synthesized through glycosyl iodide mediated glycosylation. 
• Construction of polysaccharide nanostructure and drug delivery. A large number of polymeric nanostructures have been constructed for drug delivery purposes. However, most of them do not meet the requirements of biocompatibility and biodegradability for clinical applications. Polysaccharides are naturally biocompatible and biodegradable, they are ideal materials to construct nanostructures for drug delivery.

Patents

• Gervay-Hague, J.; Du, W. “Highly Efficient Synthesis of Alpha O-Galactosyl Ceramides”. U.S. patent number: 20090036658 
• Gervay-Hague, J.; Du, W.; DeNardo, S. J.; Arutselvan N. “Construction of a Multivalent SCFV Through Alkyne-Azide 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition.” U.S. patent number:20090234105 
• Gervay-Hague, J.; Du, W.; Kulkarni, S, K.; Schombs, M., ‘One-pot Synthesis o