While living systems produce functional biopolymers using a limited pool of monomers (saccharides, amino-acids, nucleotides etc); synthetic polymers struggle in their ability to achieve function, even if these can use a much larger library of monomers. Biomacromolecules such as enzymes are folded into compact, well-defined 3D structures which determine their properties and functions. Inspired by Nature, chemists have been trying to extract the minimal structural parameters required to prepare synthetic polymers with at least some of the functionality seen in biopolymers. In the past decades, advances in polymer chemistry lead to the creation of new tailored made polymer architectures with control over polymer’s molecular weight, tacticity and distribution. Having the synthetic tools in hands, the challenge nowadays is to further understand the effect of architecture on properties and create the capability to design new functional macromolecules and polymeric materials that combine composition, topology and functionality.<br/>Single chain polymer nanoparticles (SCPN) are macromolecules formed by intramolecular collapsing/folding polymer chains into smaller and denser polymer particles, typically with diameters between 1.5-20 nm, mimicking the natural biomolecules’ folding process. Synthetic methods for the creation of SCPNs include covalent bond and supramolecular, static or dynamic interactions. The physical changes in molecular properties of SCPNs have been widely investigated: reduction in hydrodynamic volume and, as a consequence, in intrinsic viscosity. Yet, these changes due to morphology lead to additional effects, such as changes in reactivity and catalysis; optical and mechanical properties; interaction with other molecules and even larger entities like cells. In this talk, I'll present our recent studies describing some of these functional changes due to simple intramolecular chain collapse.

Chemical folding of linear polymers - What changes?

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