Bioinspired Materials Science and Engineering

11Polypeptides Synthesized by Ring‐opening Polymerization of N‐Carboxyanhydrides: Preparation, Assembly, and Applications

Yuan Yao¹, Yongfeng Zhou^2,**, and Deyue Yan^2,*

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

11.1 Introduction

The successful synthesis of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydride (NCA) in 1906 revealed a convenient procedure for preparing polypeptides with a high molecular weight through the ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of NCA [1]. Since Deming reported the first living initiating system for ROP of NCAs in 1997 [2, 3], a great number of synthetic polypeptides with controllable blocks and designable side‐groups have been designed and prepared mainly for bio‐related applications [4–6]. At present, polypeptides and their derivatives synthesized by ROP of NCAs still receive increasing attention not only because polypeptides have been important bio‐compatible materials but also due to their adoptable multitude conformations in mimicking the functions of natural proteins.

The living polymerization of NCAs has been thoroughly studied and discussed in the last few decades. Many “active” transition metal and amine initiators have been developed to control the ROP of NCAs precisely [7, 8]. Based on these achievements, a large number of polypeptide‐containing homo‐ and co‐polymers, hyperbranched polypeptides, side‐chain ...