Reagents for directed biomarker signal amplification

A conjugated polymer having a backbone of x-conjugated repeat units and the structure of the formula:

• wherein:
• Ar is polycyclic repeat unit comprising an ethylene glycol oligomer side group;
• MU is a polymer modifying repeat unit or band gap modifying repeat unit that is evenly or randomly distributed along the polymer main chain and is optionally substituted with one or more optionally substituted substituents selected from halogen, hydroxyl, C1-C12 alkyl, C2-C12 alkene, C2-C12 alkyne, C3-C12 cycloalkyl, C1-C12 haloalkyl, C1-C12 alkoxy, C2-C18 (hetero) aryloxy, C2-C18 (hetero)arylamino, a C2-C18 (hetero) aryl group and (CH2)x′(OCH2CH2)y′OCH3 where x′ is independently an integer from 0-20 and y′ is independently an integer from 0 to 50;
• optional linkers L1 and L2 are each independently an aryl or a heteroaryl group evenly or randomly distributed along the polymer main chain and are substituted with one or more pendant chains terminated with:
• i) a functional group selected from amine, carbamate, carboxylic acid, carboxylate, maleimide, activated ester, N-hydroxysuccinimidyl, hydrazine, hydrazide, hydrazone, azide, alkyne, aldehyde, thiol, and protected groups thereof for conjugation to a molecule or biomolecule;
• or ii) a conjugated organic dye or biomolecule;
• G1 and G2 are each independently selected from hydrogen, halogen, alkyne, optionally substituted aryl, optionally substituted heteroaryl, halogen substituted aryl, boronic acid substituted aryl, boronic ester substituted aryl, boronic ester, boronic acid, optionally substituted fluorene and aryl or heteroaryl, or a conjugated organic dye or biomolecule, wherein at least one of G1 and G2 is distinct from any repeat unit;
• wherein the polymer comprises a conjugated biomolecule;
• n is an integer selected so that the conjugated polymer has a molecular weight ranging from 5,000 g/mol to 100,000 g/mol;
• a, b, c and d define the mol % of each unit within the structure which each can be evenly or randomly repeated and where a is a mol % from 10 to 100%, b is a mol % from 0 to 90%, and each c and d are mol % from 0 to 25%;
• and
• the conjugated polymer has a water solubility in excess of 10 mg/ml.