The self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers is dictated primarily by the balance between the hydrophobic core volume and the hydrophilic corona.  In these studies, amphiphilic block copolymers containing poly(lysine) (PK) and poly(glutamic acid) (PE) blocks were synthesized and their solution properties studied using dynamic light scattering, circular dichroism spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy.  This talk will present some recent developments in the characterization of peptide-based triblock and star rod-coil block copolymers in solution.  First, the effect of morphological changes due to secondary structure transitions will be discussed in the context of interfacial curvature changes with pH and temperature.  The second part of this talk will discuss the effect of using 'click' chemistry in the synthesis of rod-coil block copolymers in terms of creating interfacial frustration to control solution morphologies.  In particular, the use of thiol-alkyne 'click' reactions yield materials that behave as polymeric phospholipids through the facile creation of 3-arm star polymers.  The solution properties and responsiveness of these novel materials will be discussed in terms of their ability to encapsulate and deliver cancer therapeutics.

Interfacial curvature effects in the self-assembly and responsiveness of polypeptide-based block and star copolymers

245th National Meeting (2013)

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