A one-pot ultrasonic procedure has been developed as a versatile route for synthesizing
polymer-coated microspheres that have potential application as drug delivery vehicles. The
use of synthetic thiolated poly (methacrylic acid) macromolecules as the shell material offers
control over size, morphology and functionality of the microspheres.

Materials. Poly (methacrylic acid, sodium salt)(PMA), Mw 15 kDa, was purchased from
Polysciences. Cystamine hydrochloride, dithiothreitol (DTT), N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS),
and N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), tris
(hydroxymethyl) amino methane (Tris buffer), perfluorohexane, doxorubicin hydrochloride
were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich and used as received. High-purity water with a
resistivity greater than 18 MΩ cm was obtained from an in-line Millipore RiOs/Origin system.