Solid phase synthesis of biopolymers

The solid-phase synthesis of biopolymers via iterative coupling of monomeric building blocks has found widespread application. It can be adapted easily for the incorporation of non-natural building blocks or labeled monomers, which will be used as probe molecules in chemical biology. 

Synthesis on solid supports was first developed by Merrifield [1] for the assembly of peptides. It has expanded to include many different applications including oligonucleotide, carbohydrate, and small-molecule assembly (see Chapters 11 and 14). The repetitive cycle of steps involved in the solid-phase synthesis of biopolymers can be performed manually using simple laboratory equipment or fully automated with sophisticated instrumentation. This chapter examines typical solid-phase reaction kinetics to identify factors that can improve the efficiency of both manual and automated synthesis. The hardware and software features of automated solid-phase instruments are also discussed. The focus of this discussion is not on particular commercial model synthesizers but on the basic principles of instrument operation. These considerations can assist in the design, purchase, or use of automated equipment for solid-phase synthesis. Most contrasting features have advantages and disadvantages and the proper choice of instrumentation depends on the synthetic needs of the user. 

Fig. 1. Linear solid-phase synthesis of biopolymer-like peptides and polynucleotides.

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