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Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Solvent Dependent Folding of an Amphiphilic Polyaramid
Angélique Molliet1, Samantha Doninelli1, Linda Hong1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 9, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A series of synthetic alternating and amphiphilic aromatic amide polymers were synthesized by a step growth polymerization. Alternating meta- and para-linkages were introduced to force the polymer chain into a helical shape in the highly polar solvent water. The polymers were analyzed by 1H NMR spectroscopy and SEC in polar aprotic solvents such as DMSO and DMF. However, the polymers also showed good solubility in water. 1H NMR spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and dynamic light scattering provided clear evidence of polymer folding in water but not DMF. We employed parallel tempering metadynamics in the well-tempered ensemble (PTMetaD-WTE) to simulate the free energy surfaces of an analogous model polymer in DMF and water. The simulations gave a molecular model of an unfolded structure in DMF and a helically folded tubular structure in water.
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