Synthetic Polymers with Finely Regulated Monomer Sequences: Properties and Emerging Applications

Abstract

The design of synthetic polymers with controlled monomer sequences is an important emerging trend in polymer science. This new field of research is bio‐inspired by sequence‐defined biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids. The chemical synthesis of nonnatural sequence‐controlled polymers (SCPs) has been described in several reviews. However, there is currently little information about the properties and applications of these polymers. In this context, the aim of this article is to give a comprehensive view on these aspects. After a general introduction and a short section about the synthesis of SCPs, the physicochemical properties of these synthetic macromolecules are described in detail. For instance, emphasis is put on the bulk and solution self‐assembly of SCPs. In the last part of this article, potential applications are reviewed and discussed. Overall, SCPs, which are more time‐consuming to synthesize than regular commodity polymers, are not meant to be used in high‐scale applications but more in specialty technologies with high‐added value. For instance, application areas such as data storage, anti‐counterfeiting technologies, catalysis, and photovoltaics are described in this article.

Czy plastik może rozpocząć nową erę w archiwizacji danych?

“…Wybrane mery oznacza się jako symbole "0" oraz "1". W ostatniej dekadzie opracowano szereg metod pozwalających na otrzymanie różnego rodzaju polimerów o zdefiniowanej sekwencji w szerokim przedziale właściwości chemicznych i fizycznych 28 .…”

“…Polimery zawierające informacje zakodowane w sekwencji monomerów, zwane "polimerami cyfrowymi", oferują wiele zalet w porównaniu z DNA i tradycyjnymi nośnikami pamięci. Właściwości syntetycznych polimerów mogą być precyzyjne modulowane i dostosowane do określonych wymagań poprzez wybór odpowiednich komponentów budulcowych z szerokiej biblio-teki komercyjnie dostępnych monomerów 48 . W ten sposób można zwiększyć stabilność, a tym samym wydłużyć czas życia nośnika danych.…”

Data-Driven Design of Polymer-Based Biomaterials: High-throughput Simulation, Experimentation, and Machine Learning

“…Polymers exhibit wide-ranging properties that make them attractive for myriad technologies. − In biomaterials, polymers (both biopolymers as well as synthetic ones) can feature chemical functionalities that engender biomemetic and biointerfacing properties. − Inspired by the biological complexity present in DNA and proteins, sequence-defined polymers have significant theoretical interest and promise for medicine, nanotechnology, and information storage, − but even random copolymers, with the right balance of hydrophobic, polar, and charged electrostatic interactions, can mimic the range of conformational behaviors observed in proteins. − Synthetic copolymers can also be tailored to interface with specific proteins, modulating their enzymatic activity or protecting them in denaturing environments. − As the synthetic toolbox for polymers expands, ,,,,, so too does their capacity to enhance or mimic biological functions, giving rise to applications in catalysis, − drug delivery, − biosensors, tissue engineering, and more.…”

Uniform soluble support for the large-scale synthesis of sequence-defined macromolecules

“…[12][13][14][15] Although widely used, solid-phase synthesis suffers from several limitations that make it difficult to obtain substantial quantities of sequence-defined oligomers, and which typically restrict their applications to specific research areas where only milligram amounts of material are required such as catalysis, 16,17 antibacterial compounds, [18][19][20][21] and data storage. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Solid supports are relatively expensive and are difficult to handle on a large scale in a research lab environment with the currently available (automated) set-ups. Moreover, multiple equivalents of reactants are generally used in each step to reach full conversion, which translates in the production of a large amount of waste.…”