Synthetic Helical Polymers and Diblock Copolymers: Building Blocks for Biocompatible/Biofunctional Helical Superstructur
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Synthetic Helical Polymers and Diblock Copolymers: Building Blocks for Biocompatible/Biofunctional Helical Superstructures Biswajit Sannigrahi1, Juana Mendenhall1,2 and Ishrat M Khan1 1 Department of Chemistry and Center for Functional Nanoscale Materials, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA 30314, U.S.A. 2 Current Address: Department of Chemistry, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA 30314, U.S.A. ABSTRACT Bottom-up design of materials via self-assembly with appropriate building blocks offers the possibility of developing innovative three-dimensional all synthetic materials with new functionalities. Helical optically active poly(3-methyl-4-vinylpyridine)/(R) and (S) mandelic acid and helical optically active poly(3-methyl-4-vinylpyridine) (P3M4VP)/ D- and L- amino acid complexes have been prepared. A diblock copolymer of helical poly[(3-methyl-4vinylprydine)/mandelic acid complex]-block-poly(styrene) has been processed into smectic layer-like helical-bundle structures on silicon wafer. Additionally, optically active helical poly(2-methoxystyrene) (P2PMS) has been synthesized and the surfaces of the chiral helical P2MS have been shown to be effective as supports for mouse and human osteoblast cells. The cell attachment and growth data demonstrate that the chiral P2MS surfaces were better supports compared to achiral P2MS surfaces. INTRODUCTION The chirality of biomacromolecules is one of the driving forces for the formation of higher structural order and the higher structural ordering in turn establishes many of the functional properties e.g. molecular recognition [1]. Presently, constructing purely synthetic systems with intricate higher ordered structures approaching those of biological and natural systems remains a challenge [2,3]. Such construction using polymers would require the facile preparation of, in the first instance of helical polymers with secondary or helical structures and secondly, it should be possible to integrate the helical polymers as one segment in the block copolymers i.e. a diblock copolymer containing a helical block. The diblock copolymer may be utilized for preparing complex three-dimensional structures by the controlled self-assembly [4]. Examples of block copolymer assemblies include the formation of bilayer morphologies using poly(styrene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers [5]. Self-assembly has been utilized to generate chiral superstructures using block copolymers containing a chiral isocyanopeptide block and a polystyrene block [6]. Therefore, the chirality of a segment in a block copolymer may be used to obtain interesting self-assembled structures. Thus, it is of significant interest to study the self-assembly of totally synthetic block copolymers containing a chiral helical block. In this communication, we report on the facile preparation of purely synthetic helical polymers and the preparation of block copolymers containing a helical block. Additionally, we present preliminary biological properties of surfaces prepared using the chiral helical homopolymers and some preli
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