This presentation is aimed to introduce the fabrication of water-soluble supramolecular polymers through host-guest interaction. In doing so, a bifunctional monomer FGG-PEG8-GGF bearing two Phe-Gly-Gly residues and an octaethylene glycol linker has been designed and synthesized. Then supramolecular polymers can form spontaneously by mixing the monomer and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) in a 1 : 1 ratio through specific interactions between CB[8] and the Phe-Gly-Gly residues in an aqueous solution at pH 7. The bifunctional monomer with a long linker can facilitate the formation of supramolecular polymers with a high polymerization degree. The formation of the supramolecular polymers is evidenced directly by MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy and AFM-based single-molecule force spectroscopy. In addition, the supramolecular polymers are proved to have reversible and degradable properties. Considering the biocompatible nature of the building blocks, we expect that this method of supramolecular polymerization can be further applied in fabricating environmentally friendly and biocompatible supramolecular polymeric materials.

Water-soluble supramolecular polymers fabricated through specific interactions between cucurbit[8]uril and a tripeptide of Phe-Gly-Gly

247th National Meeting (2014)

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