Well-defined synthetic block polymers: towards biological precision

摘要

Natural biopolymers comprise well-defined and highly controlled sequence distributions of different monomers, e.g. amino acids in proteins. This specific distribution/placement of monomer units along the chain confers their remarkable biological, structural and chemical properties. Matching this structural control in synthetic polymers is an important goal of macromolecular scientists. Recently, researchers from the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design at the University of New South Wales have developed a novel strategy for the synthesis of multiblock copolymers, which comprise very short blocks (on average two monomers units), in high yield, narrow polydispersity and controlled structural complexity (Soeriyadi A.H., Boyer C, Nystrm F., Zetterlund P.B., Whittaker M.R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 11128-31).