Controlled Synthesis of Polypeptides from Non-Purified N-Carboxyanhydrides

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In this project, funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Jianjun Cheng of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign is developing fast, inexpensive and simple routes for the preparation of synthetic polypeptides using amino acids as the starting materials. Polypeptides are important biopolymers; They consist of long chains of amino acids linked together by a particular kind of a chemical bond called a peptide bond or link. All living organisms are composed of polypeptides. This research allows for the large-scale preparation of polypeptide materials in several hours instead of days. Even more importantly, this new synthetic protocol eliminates the need for purification of starting materials which is often necessary in order to eliminate numerous side reactions that limit the chain length of the desired polypeptides. Successful advancement of this new method has the potential to impact the synthetic peptide synthesis, as well as several other scientific disciplines. Research activities provide undergraduate and graduate students with valuable educational experience in synthetic polymer chemistry. The knowledge of polymerization chemistry and applications will be disseminated to underrepresented undergraduates and K-12 students through the Discover Engineering Summer Camp programs and Engineering Open-House Program at University of Illinois. This research is focused on developing the open-air method for controlled synthesis of polypeptides from non-purified N-carboxyanhydride. Special emphasis is placed on water-free conditions and the elimination of purification steps involving monomers, initiators and catalysts. These steps are often critical in polymer synthesis in order to minimize chain transfer or termination reactions which severely decrease the degree of polymerization of the polypeptides. Each reaction component is carefully analyzed through systematic studies. These polymerizations are applicable to a wide range of amino acids and enable the synthesis of polypeptides with high molecular weights. The in situ purification can potentially be applied to other polymerization techniques to simplify the procedures and lower the materials synthesis costs. This innovative research has a potential to advance industrially-important rapid syntheses of polypeptides.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.