The identification of polymers with emergent properties is a major challenge; a huge range of monomers exist which can be combined in near unlimited combinations. Any strategy to maximise chemical space, particularly for biomedical applications, should enable access to 100’s, if not 1000’s of unique polymers. The synthesis method should be robust, and purification/isolation should also be high-throughput and preferably accessible using robotics. Finally, the handling steps should be compatible with high-throughput screening using e.g 96 or 384 well plates. (Controlled) radical polymerization is accessible and recent advances enable ‘in air’ polymerization where a light source is used to provide the radical flux, removing the need for degassing.<br/>Here we report the use of photo-initiated ‘in air’ polymerization using liquid handling robots to enable the discovery of new anti-microbial materials. Each step is performed in a parallel. We show that this enables reproducible (co)polymer synthesis in low volume. Using this strategy, a range of monomers are (co)polymerised together and the resulting polymers screened to identify new structures which have increased antimicrobial, and in particular, anti-mycobacterial, activity relative to homopolymers. The screening process was essential with only a small sub-set showing enhanced antimicrobial (10 fold) activity, and low toxicity.

Photochemical combinatorial discovery of antimicrobial polymers

255th National Meeting (2018)

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