A New Synthetic Methodology of Site-Specific Functionalized Polypeptides: Metal-Free, Highly Active and Selective at Room Temperature.

A New Synthetic Methodology of Site-Specific Functionalized Polypeptides: Metal-Free, Highly Active and Selective at Room Temperature. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Sep 16;: Authors: Zhao W, Lv Y, Li J, Feng Z, Ni Y, Hadjichristidis N Abstract Functionalized polypeptides have attracted tremendous interest in recent years and found many stimulating applications due to their tunable physicochemical characteristics including hydrophilicity and stimuli-responsive behavior. The development of new strategies to produce these polymers without metallic contaminants is crucial for their applications in high-value and sensitive domains, such as biomedical, microelectronic, food packaging and personal beauty care fields. Herein, a highly efficient strategy to access well-defined site-specific functionalized polypeptides is developed by combining Michael reaction with hydrogen-bonding organocatalytic ROP of NCA. A library of chain-end and chain-middle functionalized polypeptides (14 examples) with predesigned molecular weights and low polydispersities are readily prepared with this approach. Specifically, the whole synthetic process is metal-free, fulfilling high activity and selectivity at room temperature. PMID: 32935922 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl Source Type: research