Research

Research efforts in our group are focused on the design, synthesis and characterization of biomimetic, bioinspired and bio-related functional polymers (b3p). We are interested in developing synthetic tools to access well-defined polymers. Synthetic efforts are also coupled with fundamental studies of the polymer structure and functions, providing understanding of how molecular structure and processing parameters impact macroscopic properties. Students participating in our research will receive training in polymer chemistry and various analytic methods for macromolecular characterization.

 

Polypeptoid illustration; illustration credit: Zuckermann

 

One class of polymers that we have been interested in are peptidomimetic polymers. These polymers are composed of amino acids or their structural derivatives as basic building blocks (Figure 1). In spite of their significantly simplified primary structure, they can adopt well-defined secondary structures (e.g., helices and sheets) that are commonly observed in proteins. Differing from random coil counterparts, polymers with secondary structures exhibit unique physical properties that are coupled to their global conformations that can be perturbed by external stimuli (e.g., pH, temperature, ionic strength). Our recent work has been focused on the development of synthetic tools to access well-defined polypeptoids and polypeptides with different molecular characteristics, investigation of their solution behaviors and the development of functional materials based on these polymers.

Ongoing projects in the lab include…

  1. Organo-mediated ring-opening polymerization of amino acid derived N-thiocarboxyanhydrides (NTAs) towards well-defined polypeptides and polypeptoids
  2. Synthesis and solution self-assembly of sequence-defined ionic peptoid amphiphiles
  3. Investigation of the solution self-assembly and structure of amphiphilic coil-comb shape polypeptoid block copolymers.
  4. Investigation of aminal exchange reactions and synthesis of polyaminal networks with adaptable and dynamic properties
  5. Synthesis and characterization of polypeptoid-functionalized Halloysites as novel Pickering emulsion stabilizers
  6. Design and synthesis of cationic polypeptoids for gene delivery applications

Examples of completed research projects…

  1. Synthesis, characterization, and binding studies of multivalent glycopolypeptides with varying chain lengths, backbone architectures, and epitope densities
  2. Design, synthesis and characterization of thermoreversible ABC polypeptoid hydrogels
  3. Understanding the solvent effect on the dynamic properties of polyimine networks
  4. 1,1,3,3-Tetramethylguanidine promoted ring-opening polymerization of N-butyl N-carboxyanhydride monomers using alcohol initiators
  5. Amidine-mediated zwitterionic ring-opening polymerization of N-alkyl N-carboxyanhydride
  6. Synthesis and characterization of redox-responsive core-crosslinked polypeptoid micelles towards drug delivery applications
  7. Design, synthesis and characterization of water-soluble "clickable" α-helical polypeptides
  8. Organo-mediated controlled polymerization of N-substituted N-carboxyanhydrides towards well-defined cyclic polypeptoids and their block copolymers
  9. Mechanistic investigation of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-mediated zwitterionic ring-opening polymerization of N-substituted N-carboxyanhydrides
  10. Design and synthesis of thermo-responsive cyclic and linear polypeptoids
  11. Synthesis and solution self-assembly of cyclic and linear block copolypeptoids
  12. Synthesis of cyclic and linear bottlebrush copolymers
  13. Orthogonal side chain functionalization of block copolypeptides
  14. Synthesis of glycopolypeptides by post-polymerization click chemistry15. Structure and self-assembly of carbon nanotubes with helical polypeptides