Iterative exponential growth of stereo- and sequence-controlled polymers

作者：Barnes, Jonathan C.; Ehrlich, Deborah J. C.; Gao, Angela X.; Leibfarth, Frank A.; Jiang, Yivan; Zhou, Erica; Jamison, Timothy F.; Johnson, Jeremiah A.^*

来源：Nature Chemistry, 2015, 7(10): 810-815.

DOI：10.1038/NCHEM.2346

• SOLID-PHASE SYNTHESIS
• CONJUGATED OLIGOMERS
• BUILDING-BLOCKS
• RADICAL POLYMERIZATION
• PRECISION POLYMERS
• PEPTIDE-SYNTHESIS
• MOLECULAR LENGTH
• VINYL COPOLYMERS
• CLICK CHEMISTRY
• RAPID ROUTE

Chemists have long sought sequence-controlled synthetic polymers that mimic nature's biopolymers, but a practical synthetic route that enables absolute control over polymer sequence and structure remains a key challenge. Here, we report an iterative exponential growth plus side-chain functionalization (IEG+) strategy that begins with enantiopure epoxides and facilitates the efficient synthesis of a family of uniform >3 kDa macromolecules of varying sequence and stereoconfiguration that are coupled to produce unimolecular polymers (>6 kDa) with sequences and structures that cannot be obtained using traditional polymerization techniques. Selective side-chain deprotection of three hexadecamers is also demonstrated, which imbues each compound with the ability to dissolve in water. We anticipate that these new macromolecules and the general IEG+ strategy will find broad application as a versatile platform for the scalable synthesis of sequence-controlled polymers.

• 出版日期2015-10