Amphiphilic Gels for Solid Phase Synthesis

Amphiphilic gels (11) siutaUe for solid diase syntl is are produced by the active ester nKthod according to Fig. 12. The activated polymer intermediates 

Amphiphilic polymers (11) with relatively low degrees of functioisilhy obtaiiKd via active ester synthesis (see Fig. 12) 

Activated resin Functional tesidue Capacity Characteristic IR 

Exami of polymeric reagents usefid for peptide synthesis by invert solid phase method (see Fig. IQ 

The methodology of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) [65, 66] has been credited with the award of 1984 Nobel Prize in chemistry [67] to its inventor, Bruce R. Merrifield of the Rockefeller University. At the heart of the SPPS lies an insoluble polymer support or gel , which renders the synthetic peptide intermediates insoluble, and hence readily separable from excess reagents and by-products. In addition to peptide synthesis, beaded polymer gels are also being studied for a number of other synthetic and catalytic reactions [2]. Ideally, the polymer support should be chemically inert and not interfere with the chemistry under investigation. The provision of chemical inertiKss presents no difficulty, but the backbone structure of the polymer may profoundly influence the course of the reaction on the polymer support. This topic has attracted considerable interest, particularly in relation to the properties of polystyrene (nonpolar, hydrophobic), polydimethylacrylamide (polar, hydrophilic), and copoIy(styrene-dimethylaciylamide) (polar-nonpolar, amphiphilic) (see later). 

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