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Although phototriggered cleavage of chemical bonds induced by single-photon or two-photon-absorption provides attractive tools for controlled drug delivery, the choice of drugs is still limited by the linker system to which the therapeutic molecules need to be bound covalently. The use of a multifunctional linker system suitable for coupling a broad spectrum of drugs to the polymeric carrier will open a new field for drug delivery. We have developed a novel photocleavable multifunctional linker system based on coumarin dimers, whose unique photochemical behavior are well characterized. As a first example, an acrylic polymer-drug conjugate with antimetabolites is explored. The cleavage of the link between the drug and the polymer backbone is triggered by both single- as well as two-photon absorption. The release of the drug is investigated. It is possible to manufacture a polymeric drug delivery device with several drugs in different areas. In particular the two-photon-absorption induced process offers the possibility to address the drug of interest owing to the superior spatial resolution. The key to such devices is a versatile linker-system which can be adopted to work with various drug compounds.

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