Biomolecular Densely Grafted Brush Polymers: Oligonucleotides, Oligosaccharides and Oligopeptides

Abstract

In this Minireview, we describe synthetic polymers densely functionalized with sequence-defined biomolecular sidechains. We focus on synthetic brush polymers of oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides, and oligopeptides, prepared via graft-through polymerization from biomolecule functionalized monomers. The resulting structures are brush polymers wherein a biomolecular graft is positioned at each monomer backbone unit. We describe key synthetic milestones, identify synthetic opportunities, and highlight recent advances in the field, including biological applications.

Keywords: brush polymers; graft-through polymerization; oligonucleotides; oligopeptides; oligosaccharides.