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Updated: May 23, 2026

Synthesis of Information-bearing Peptoids and their Sequence-directed Dynamic Covalent Self-assembly
Published on: February 6, 2020
Single chain folding of synthetic polymers by covalent and non-covalent interactions: current status and future
Ozcan Altintas1, Christopher Barner-Kowollik
1Preparative Macromolecular Chemistry, DFG Centre for Functional Nanostructures (CFN), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Engesserstr. 18, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Abstract:
The present feature article highlights the preparation of polymeric nanoparticles and initial attempts towards mimicking the structure of natural biomacromolecules by single chain folding of well-defined linear polymers through covalent and non-covalent interactions. Initially, the discussion focuses on the synthesis and characterization of single chain self-folded structures by non-covalent interactions. The second part of the article summarizes the folding of single chain polymers by means of covalent interactions into nanoparticle systems. The current state of the art in the field of single chain folding indicates that covalent-bond-driven nanoparticle preparation is well advanced, while the first encouraging steps towards building reversible single chain folding systems by the use of mutually orthogonal hydrogen-bonding motifs have been made.
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