Many transition metals can be detrimental to human health and the environment, yet there are currently few effective therapeutics and remediation strategies for poisoning and contamination. This is in part due to the lack of ligands that can chelate these metals selectively amidst an excess of innocuous ions. To address this, we have developed libraries of peptoid-based compounds and screening strategies to identify ligands for various applications. Peptoids, or N-substituted glycine oligomers, are a recently developed class of peptidomimetics that have a variety of new structures and applications. The metal-binding capacity of peptoids was demonstrated by identifying tetramers capable of chelating toxic Cr(VI). Due to the high oxidative potential of Cr(VI), few ligands have been previously developed. A selective screening strategy was developed to find ligands which could bind low concentrations of Cr(VI) in a complex sample medium. Identified sequences were characterized to determine not only their affinity and selectivity, but additionally to illuminate the specific interactions between the metal and this new class of ligands. In an assay with environmental water samples containing simulated levels of Cr(VI) contamination, the synthetic structures outperformed commercially available resins and reduced the amount of Cr(VI) to levels within the range of the EPA guidelines. Current studies are exploring additional applications of peptoid-based ligands and the development of inexpensive sensors for individual water contaminants.

Selective metal chelation with peptoid ligands

248th National Meeting (2014)

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