We will report the integration of ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and ring-opening polymerization of the amino acid N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) to allow facile synthesis of brush-like polymers containing polypeptide brush. ROMP of N-trimethylsilyl norbornenes renders the preparation of poly(norbornene)s bearing pendant N-TMS groups. With no need to purify the resulting polymers, such macromolecular initiators can subsequently initiate controlled NCA polymerizations. Brush-like poly(norbornene)s with grafted polypeptides are readily obtained with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. We find that the polymerization can finish with very fast kinetics and very high yield. Polypeptide brushes with up to 1000 degree of polymerization can be obtained with low polydispersity. Because many ROMP and NCA monomers are widely available, this novel polymerization technique will allow easy access to numerous brush-like hybrid macromolecules with unprecedented properties and broad applications.

Synthesis of brush polypeptides

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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