Synthesis of Sequence Defined Dendrimers
Vulikh, Mirabella Pearl
Vulikh, Mirabella Pearl
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Abstract
Dendrimers are branched, highly ordered, polymeric molecules. Sequence defined dendrimers differ from classical dendrimers in that all of their branches are unique. Using amino acids as the branches, protein-like structures can be made. The branched dendrimer structures could potentially be advantageous to the typical linear structure of proteins due to steric crowding and increased stability of the molecules. However, so far, the functionality of dendrimers has been limited because in classical dendrimers not all units on each shell are unique, and the synthesis of fully sequence-defined, asymmetric dendrimers (with all units internally and on the surface unique) has not yet been accomplished. Using N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) coupling and thiol-lactone click chemistry we will now explore, for the first time, how these complex structures with amino acid branches can be made. As proof of concept, my summer research aimed to yield a second-generation dendrimer of serine, lysine, glycine, phenylalanine, and alanine. Our synthetic scheme should also be applicable to much larger, higher generation dendrimers in the future, which have potential implications in many areas of science, one being biomedical research as artificial antibodies.
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Undergraduate
Date
2022-01-01