Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was conjugated to oleic acid (OA) to prepare albumin-oleic acid nanoparticles (AON) that could potentially be used as a drug carrier via EDC and NHS reactions. The pH changed during the synthetic process due to the sensitivity of the conjugation reactions. The thermal and molecular interactions were then investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and MALDI-TOF. The solubility of AO in various solvents was also measured. The AON were prepared by self-assembly in water. The size and zeta potential of the AON were identified using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FT-IR and MALDI-TOF data indicated that AO had been successfully synthesized. DSC data revealed that the endothermic peak between BSA and AO had changed and decreased in intensity. The solubility of AO in water was decreased in comparison to BSA. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data indicated that the AON were amorphous. DLS results showed that the size of the AON particles was small (approximately 200 nm) and that the surface charge was highly negative. Based on the results of the preliminary studies, we concluded that the AON were successfully synthesized and that the AON could potentially be used as drug carriers.
