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Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Synthesis of Information-bearing Peptoids and their Sequence-directed Dynamic Covalent Self-assembly
Published on: February 6, 2020
Sequence-defined vinyl sulfonamide click nucleic acids (VS-CNAs) and their assembly into dynamically responsive
Bryan P Sutherland1, Paige J LeValley2, Derek J Bischoff1
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. cjk@udel.edu.
Abstract:
Synthetic DNA analogues are of great interest for their application in information storage, therapeutics, and nanostructured materials, yet are often limited in scalability. Vinyl sulfonamide click nucleic acids (VS-CNAs) have been developed to overcome this limitation using the highly efficient thiol-Michael 'click' reaction. Utilizing all four nucleobases, sequence-defined click nucleic acids (CNAs) were synthesized using a simple and scalabale solution-phase approach. Employing a polyethylene glycol (PEG) support, synthesis of the CNA sequence, GATTACA, was achieved in high yields. CNA crosslinked hydrogels were assembled using multiarm PEG-CNAs resulting in materials that dynamically respond to temperature, strain, and competitive sequences.

