By combining peptides and polymers in bioconjugates, synthetic polymers are created that are not merely structural materials, but also have functional properties. This class of hybrid polymers has drawn much attention since these peptide bioconjugates can be potentially used for a wide range of applications. In order to obtain quantitative functionalization, the conjugation reaction needs to be very robust, efficient and bio-orthogonal. Several conjugation reactions have been developed which satisfy these requirements and which are commonly referred to as 'click' reactions. We have previously shown that the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-cycloaddition method is efficient for the construction of polymer bioconjuges. However, the use of copper is not always desired since it can affect the biological activity of the biomolecules and can induce toxicity problems when the metal is not completely removed from the sample. In this paper we explore the scope and limitations of using copper-free click approaches to construct bioconjugates.

Clickable peptide polymer hybrids

242nd National Meeting (2011)

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