Oligomeric synthetic combinatorial

This combinatorial approach is applicable to any molecular structure that can be assembled either in a stepwise or concerted fashion from a set of molecular precursors, and where a screen or selection for a desired function exists. This includes oligomeric molecules such as nucleic acids and peptides, nonpolymeric molecules such as natural products, or even solid-state materials such as superconductors or polymers. To illustrate the utility and scope of this new synthetic strategy, as well as the challenges that remain, a number of examples, both from our laboratory and many others, will be described. These applications cover a broad spectrum, ranging from biological catalysis and drug discovery to materials science. 

Martin and co-workers counted the total number of substructural fragments up to seven bonds long found in entire libraries as an estimate of chemical functional group diversity. They showed that although synthetic oligomeric combinatorial peptoid libraries were far more diverse than combinatorial biopolymer libraries, they still contained only about as many substructures as just the 45 top selling small molecule drugs. 

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