A nanoscale MOF-based heterogeneous catalytic system for the polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides enables direct routes toward both polypeptides and related hybrid materials.

ABSTRACT: Synthetic polypeptides have emerged as versatile tools in both materials science and biomedical engineering due to their tunable properties and biodegradability. While the advancements of N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) ring-opening polymerization (ROP) techniques have aimed to expedite polymerization and reduce environment sensitivity, the broader implications of such methods remain underexplored, and the integration of ROP products with other materials remains a challenge. Here, we show an approach inspired by the success of many heterogeneous catalysts, using nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as co-catalysts for NCA-ROP accelerated also by peptide helices in proximity. This heterogeneous approach offers multiple advantages, including fast kinetics, low environment sensitivity, catalyst

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10497576 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature