TRR 102: Polymers under Multiple Constraints: Restricted and Controlled Molecular Order and Mobility

大分子的丰富的多功能性和可变的性质和功能一方面基于大量不同的单体，但另一方面，基于聚合物能够组装成有组织的结构的事实，编码在聚合物链的化学序列中。在自组装的简单情况下，只有链的连接性作为约束，导致存在独立于特定化学的基本上普遍的性质。简单嵌段共聚物的自组装是一个研究得很好的例子。然而，在高分子科学中，许多重要的开放和具有挑战性的问题的特征在于链的局部结构和整体构象之间的强相关性。一般来说，在大分子体系中，单体规模上的有序形成是一个复杂的过程，因为它通常是由链介导的环境约束的基础。在CRC TRR 102中，我们研究了链分子的结构形成和自组装过程，其中分子结构的形成和分子动力学受到链连接性和额外约束的影响，例如蛋白质中的特定内部相互作用，外力，几何限制，拥挤或拓扑限制。这类过程的两个突出例子和CRC的中心主题是合成聚合物领域的结晶和生物聚合物领域的淀粉样蛋白的形成。在这两种情况下，更大规模的结构形成，由局部分子秩序的形成驱动，并受到链的连接性的约束。这两个过程都具有通用特征。在CRC中，我们研究并希望了解这些和其他类似的结构形成过程以及所得结构的特性。我们的目标是制定基本的、潜在的原则。在我们的研究计划，在第二个资助期开始，并在第三个资助期延长的一个新的发展是混合动力系统的结构形成的调查。合成和生物大分子的典型和不同的分子元素组合在一个大分子中，导致新的功能和材料性能。我们期望这些课题的基础研究将为聚合物材料的应用或淀粉样蛋白相关疾病的治疗提供潜在有用的基础知识。

The rich versatility and the variable properties and functions of macromolecules are based on the one hand on a large variety of different monomers but on the other hand, on the fact that polymers are able to assemble in organized structures, encoded in the chemical sequence of the polymer chains. In simple cases of self-assembly only the connectivity of the chain acts as a constraint, leading to the existence of largely universal properties independent of the specific chemistry. The self-assembly of simple block copolymers is a well-studied example. However, many important open and challenging problems in polymer science are characterized by strong correlations between local structure and global conformation of the chain. Generally, in macromolecular systems the formation of order on the monomer scale is a complex process as it typically underlies constraints from the surroundings mediated by the chain. In the CRC TRR 102 we investigate such processes of structure formation and self-assembly of chain molecules, where the formation of molecular structures and the molecular dynamics are affected by chain connectivity and additional constraints like for example specific internal interactions as in proteins, external forces, geometrical confinement, crowding or topological restrictions. Two prominent examples of such processes and central topics of the CRC are crystallization in the area of synthetic polymers and the formation of amyloids in the area of biopolymers. In both cases larger scale structures form, driven by the formation of local molecular order, and constrained by the connectivity of the chains. Both processes carry generic features. In the CRC we study and want to understand these and other similar processes of structure formation and the properties of the resulting structures. Our aim is to work out the fundamental, underlying principles. A new development in our research program, initiated in the second funding period and to be extended in the third funding period is the investigation of structure formation in hybrid systems. Molecular elements that are typical and different for synthetic and biological macromolecules are combined in one macromolecule leading to new functions and material properties. We expect that fundamental research on these topics will provide basic knowledge potentially useful for applications of polymeric materials or treatment of amyloid related diseases.