This contribution presents the synthesis of helical alkyne-terminated polymers using a functionalized Nickel complex to initiate the polymerization of menthylphenyl isocyanides. The resulting polymers display low dispersities and controlled molecular weights. Copper-catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloadditions (CuAAC) are performed to attach various azide-containing compounds to the polymer termini. After azido-phosphonate moiety attachment the polymer displays a signal at 25.4 ppm in the ³¹P NMR spectrum demonstrating successful end-group functionalization. End-group functionalization of a fluorescent dye allows to determine the functionalization yield as 89% (±8). Successful ligation of an azide-functionalized peptide sequence (M_KLA = 1547 g/mol) increases the M_n from 5100 for the parent polymer to 6700 for the bioconjugate as visualized by GPC chromatography. Analysis by CD spectroscopy confirms that the helical conformation of the poly(isocyanide) block in the peptide–polymer conjugate is maintained after postpolymerization modification. These results demonstrate an easy, generalizable, and versatile strategy toward mono-telechelic helical polymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016, 54, 2766–2773

N-(Bis(4-(2-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)(phenyl)-methyl)methacrylamide was synthesized and polymerized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The chain-transfer agent (4-cyano-4-(phenylcarbonothioylthio) pentanoic acid (CPADB)), combined with a chiral additive, and a radical initiator yielded polymers with dispersities between 1.2 and 1.4. At low concentrations, the polymers are soluble in hexanes and chloroform while at higher concentrations they swell in these solvents. Characterization of the polymers by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) revealed an interplanar distance of 19.0 Å. The WAXS data combined with polarized optical microscopy support a lamellar crystallization and lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior in hexanes and chloroform. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 2563–2568

ω-Telechelic poly(p-phenylene vinylene) species (PPVs) are prepared by living ring-opening metathesis polymerization of a [2.2]paracyclophane-1,9-diene in the presence of Hoveyda–Grubbs 2nd generation initiator, with terminating agents based on N¹,N³-bis(6-butyramidopyridin-2-yl)-5-hydroxyisophthalamide (Hamilton wedge), cyanuric acid, Pd^II–SCS-pincer, or pyridine moieties installing the supramolecular motifs. The resultant telechelic polymers are self-assembled into supramolecular block copolymers (BCPs) via metal coordination or hydrogen bonding and analyzed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The optical properties are examined, whereby individual PPVs exhibit similar properties regardless of the nature of the end group. Upon self-assembly, different behaviors emerge: the hydrogen-bonding BCP behaves similarly to the parent PPVs whereas the metallosupramolecular BCP demonstrates a hypsochromic shift and a more intense emission owing to the suppression of aggregation. These results demonstrate that directional self-assembly can be a facile method to construct BCPs with semiconducting networks, while combating solubility and aggregation.

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization was used to control the alternating copolymerization of styrene and 2,3,4,5,6-pentaflurostyrene. The RAFT polymerization yields a high degree of control over the molecular weight of the polymers and does not significantly influence the reactivity ratios of the monomers. The controlled free-radical polymerization could be initiated using AIBN at elevated temperatures or using a redox couple (benzoyl peroxide/N,N-dimethylaniline) at room temperature, while maintaining control over molecular weight and dispersity. The influence of temperature and solvent on the molecular weight distribution and reactivity ratios were investigated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 1555–1559

A cross-linked poly(styrene) support functionalized with cobalt(III) salen cyclic oligomers that can be used as a catalyst for the hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR) of terminal epoxides is reported. This catalyst is the most active heterogeneous catalyst to date for the HKR of terminal epoxides and can be recycled more than six times with excellent enantioselectivities for the HKR of epichlorohydrin. A 3-fold rate enhancement was observed when conducting the HKR reaction with 6 equivalents of water compared to 0.6 equivalents. We hypothesize that this rate enhancement is due to water sequestration of the diol product from the organic phase, thereby maintaining a high local concentration of epoxides and catalyst in the organic phase.

A poly(amide)-based dendrimer was synthesized and functionalized with the membrane-interacting peptide gH(625–644) (gH625) derived from the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) envelope glycoprotein H, which has previously been shown to assist in delivering large cargoes across the cellular membrane. We demonstrate that the attachment of the gH625 peptide sequence to the termini of a dendrimer allows the conjugate to penetrate into the cellular matrix, whereas the unfunctionalized dendrimer is excluded from translocation. The peptide-functionalized dendrimer is rapidly taken into the cells mainly through a non-active translocation mechanism. Our results suggest that the presented peptidodendrimeric scaffold may be a promising material for efficient drug delivery.

Cyanine dyes are known for their fluorescence in the near-IR (NIR) region, which is desirable for biological applications. We report the synthesis of a series of aminocyanine dyes containing terminal functional groups such as acid, azide, and cyclooctyne groups for further functionalization through, for example, click chemistry. These aminocyanine dyes can be attached to polyfunctional dendrons by copper-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), strain-promoted azide alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC), peptide coupling, or direct S_NR1 reactions. The resulting dendron–dye conjugates were obtained in high yields and displayed high chemical stability and photostability. The optical properties of the new compounds were studied by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. All compounds show large Stokes shifts and strong fluorescence in the NIR region with high quantum yields, which are optimal properties for in vivo optical imaging.

AlCl–salen (salen=N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine dianion) catalysts supported onto macrocyclic oligomeric cyclooctene through linkers of varying length and flexibility have been developed to demonstrate the importance of support architecture on catalyst activity. The role played by the support and the linkers in dictating catalyst activity was found to vary for reactions with contrasting mechanisms, such as the bimetallic cyanide and the monometallic indole addition reactions. While the flexible support significantly enhanced the cyanide addition reaction, most likely by improving salen–salen interactions in the transition state, it lowered the reaction rate for the monometallic indole reaction. For both reactions, significant increase in catalytic activity was observed for catalysts with the longest linkers. The effect of the flexible macrocyclic support on catalysis was further exemplified by the enhanced activity of the supported catalyst in comparison with its unsupported analogue for the conjugate addition of tetrazoles, which is known to be catalyzed by dimeric μ-oxo–salen catalysts. Our studies with the cyclooctene supported AlCl–salen catalysts provides significant insights for rationally designing highly efficient AlCl–salen catalysts for a diverse set of reactions.

We report the synthesis of telechelic poly(norbornene) and poly(cyclooctene) homopolymers by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and their subsequent functionalization and block copolymer formation based on noncovalent interactions. Whereas all the poly(norbornene)s contain either a metal complex or a hydrogen-bonding moiety along the polymer side-chains, together with a single hydrogen-bonding-based molecular recognition moiety at one terminal end of the polymer chain. These homopolymers allow for the formation of side-chain-functionalized AB and ABA block copolymers through self-assembly. The orthogonal natures of all side- and main-chain self-assembly events were demonstrated by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry. The resulting fully functionalized block copolymers are the first copolymers combining both side- and main-chain self-assembly, thereby providing a high degree of control over copolymer functionalization and architecture and bringing synthetic materials one step closer to the dynamic self-assembly structures found in nature.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-block-poly(norbornene) (PNB) copolymers which bear photocrosslinkable cinnamate side-chains are synthesized by combining the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornenes with the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactides. Highly porous 3D scaffolds with tunable pore sizes ranging from 20 to 300 µm are fabricated through liquid–solid phase separation. Scaffolds with an average pore size around 250 µm, which are under investigation as bone grafting materials, are reproducibly obtained from freeze-drying 5% w/v benzene solutions of PLA-b-PNB copolymers at −10 °C. As a demonstration of the impact of photocrosslinking of cinnamate side-chains, scaffolds are exposed to UV radiation for 8 h, resulting in a 33% increase in the compressive modulus of the polymeric scaffold. The foams and the methodology described herein represent a new strategy toward polymeric scaffolds with potential for use in regenerative medicine applications.

Through systematic variations of the length of oligo(ethylene glycol)-based linkers and the catalyst density of poly(styrene)-supported cobalt-salen catalysts, we have elucidated an optimal catalyst flexibility and density of polymeric Co-salen catalysts for the hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR) of racemic terminal epoxides that follows a bimetallic cooperative pathway. The optimized polymeric catalyst brings the two cooperative Co-salen units to a favorable proximity efficiently and hence displays significantly improved catalytic performance in the HKR compared with its monomeric small molecule analogue. Complex Co(5b), representing the most active poly(styrene)-supported HKR catalyst known so far, can effect the resolution of a variety of epoxides to reach ≥98 % ee in 6–24 h with a low cobalt loading of 0.01–0.1 mol %.

In this contribution, we describe polymer-supported (R,R)-(salen)AlCl complexes that were immobilized on poly(norbornene)s and display excellent activities and enantioselectivies as catalysts for the 1,4-conjugate addition of cyanide to α,β-unsaturated imides. These supported catalysts could be recycled up to 5 times without compromising catalyst activities or selectivities. Furthermore, the catalyst loadings could be reduced from 10–15 mol%, the common catalyst loadings for non-supported (salen)Al catalysts, to 5 mol%, a decrease of metal content by 50–66%, without lowering product yields or enantioselectivities. Kinetic studies indicated that the polymer-supported catalysts are significantly more active than their corresponding unsupported analogues, which makes this catalyst system key to a successful implementation of this catalytic transformation into the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Excellent enantioselectivities and isolated yields have been achieved for the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of epoxides using a resin-supported dendronized R,R-(salen)Co catalyst with catalyst loadings as low as 0.04 mol%, the lowest metal loadings of any heterogeneous resin-supported (salen)Co catalyst reported to date. In addition, the supported catalysts can be recycled and reused with comparable enantioselectivities. It is hypothesized that the high catalytic activity can be attributed to the flexible linker and the dendronized framework supporting the (salen)Co moieties on the resin thereby promoting cooperativity between two metal centers. This work opens up new opportunities for the design of highly active resin-supported catalysts that catalyze transformations through a bimetallic pathway.

Poly(norbornene) terpolymers containing palladated sulfur-carbon-sulfur (SCS) pincer complexes, cyanuric acid, and thymine moieties in their side-chains were synthesized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization. Functionalization of the terpolymers was achieved by self-assembling (i) the Hamilton wedge to the cyanuric acid receptor, (ii) diaminopyridine to the thymine receptor, and (iii) pyridine to the palladated pincer complexes. While all three noncovalent interactions are fully orthogonal to each other in dichloromethane, the employment of a dioxane/chloroform solvent mixture results in the quantitative disassembly of one of the hydrogen bonding recognition units (the Hamilton wedge:cyanuric acid pair) during the metal-coordination event. This disassembly is completely independent from the diaminopyridine: thymine hydrogen-bonding pair and allows for the selective removal of one of the side-chain functionalities. This removal occurs with a switch-type mechanism: as one functionality is put on (the pyridine), another one (the Hamilton-wedge receptor) is taken off quantitatively. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1936–1944, 2008