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Exploring the Structural Diversity of DNA Bottlebrush Polymers Using an Oligonucleotide Macromonomer Approach
Hao Lu1, Jiansong Cai1, Yang Fang1
1Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Bioengineering, and Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States.
Abstract:
Herein, we demonstrate that macromonomers consisting of organics-soluble, chemically protected oligonucleotides (protDNA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains can be converted into bottlebrush polymers of distinct architectures via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Using a custom norbornene-containing phosphoramidite, two types of macromonomers were obtained: a linear norbornene-protDNA-PEG structure and a Y-shaped structure where the polymerizable norbornene group is situated at the junction where protDNA and PEG meet. With this strategy, the PEG chains can be placed either near the backbone of the bottlebrush or on its periphery, and in principle anywhere between these two extremes by adjusting the norbornene location, which makes this strategy attractive for constructing architecturally sophisticated oligonucleotide-containing copolymers.
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