Sequence Changes Modulate Peptoid Self-Association in Water

Navigating the Expansive Landscapes of Soft Materials: A User Guide for High-Throughput Workflows

Synthetic polymers are highly customizable with tailored structures and functionality, yet this versatility generates challenges in the design of advanced materials due to the size and complexity of the design space. Thus, exploration and optimization of polymer properties using combinatorial libraries has become increasingly common, which requires careful selection of synthetic strategies, characterization techniques, and rapid processing workflows to obtain fundamental principles from these large data sets. Herein, we provide guidelines for strategic design of macromolecule libraries and workflows to efficiently navigate these high-dimensional design spaces. We describe synthetic methods for multiple library sizes and structures as well as characterization methods to rapidly generate data sets, including tools that can be adapted from biological workflows. We further highlight relevant insights from statistics and machine learning to aid in data featurization, representation, and analysis. This Perspective acts as a "user guide" for researchers interested in leveraging high-throughput screening toward the design of multifunctional polymers and predictive modeling of structure-property relationships in soft materials.

Protein-Inspired Control over Synthetic Polymer Folding for Structured Functional Nanoparticles in Water

The folding of proteins into functional nanoparticles with defined 3D structures has inspired chemists to create simple synthetic systems mimicking protein properties. The folding of polymers into nanoparticles in water proceeds via different strategies, resulting in the global compaction of the polymer chain. Herein, we review the different methods available to control the conformation of synthetic polymers and collapse/fold them into structured, functional nanoparticles, such as hydrophobic collapse, supramolecular self-assembly, and covalent cross-linking. A comparison is made between the design principles of protein folding to synthetic polymer folding and the formation of structured nanocompartments in water, highlighting similarities and differences in design and function. We also focus on the importance of structure for functional stability and diverse applications in complex media and cellular environments.

Origins of Conformational Heterogeneity in Peptoid Helices Formed by Chiral N-1-Phenylethyl Sidechains

N-substituted glycines (polypeptoids) containing chiral hydrophobic sidechains are known to fold into biomimetic alpha helices. These helix formers often produce conformationally heterogeneous structures and are difficult to characterize at a sub-nanometer resolution. Previously, peptoid N-1-phenylethyl (R)-enantiomer sidechains (Nspe) were inferred from various experiments to form right-handed helices and (S)-enantiomers (Nrpe), left-handed helices. Prior computational work for N(s/r)pe oligomers has struggled to reproduce this trend. Herein, quantum mechanics calculations and molecular dynamics simulations are used to understand the origins of this discrepancy. Results from DFT and molecular mechanics calculations on a variety of Nspe and Nrpe oligomers as a function of chain length are in agreement, showing that Nspe and Nrpe prefer left- and right-handed helices, respectively. Additional metadynamics simulations are used to study Nrpe and Nspe oligomers folding in water. These results show that the free-energy driving forces for assembly into a helical backbone configuration are very small (within ∼k_BT). Lastly, we compare DFT calculations for other experimentally characterized peptoid sidechains, N(r/s)sb, N(r/s)tbe, and N(r/s)npe. In this analysis, we show that peptoid sidechains determined to be more robust experimentally (tbe and npe) have helical preferences opposite the trend seen in less robust assemblies formed by N(r/s)pe and N(r/s)sb chemistries. The more robust tbe and nnpe favor the (S)-enantiomer to right-handed and the (R)-enantiomers to left-handed helices.

Hierarchical Nanomaterials Assembled from Peptoids and Other Sequence-Defined Synthetic Polymers

In nature, the self-assembly of sequence-specific biopolymers into hierarchical structures plays an essential role in the construction of functional biomaterials. To develop synthetic materials that can mimic and surpass the function of these natural counterparts, various sequence-defined bio- and biomimetic polymers have been developed and exploited as building blocks for hierarchical self-assembly. This review summarizes the recent advances in the molecular self-assembly of hierarchical nanomaterials based on peptoids (or poly-N-substituted glycines) and other sequence-defined synthetic polymers. Modern techniques to monitor the assembly mechanisms and characterize the physicochemical properties of these self-assembly systems are highlighted. In addition, discussions about their potential applications in biomedical sciences and renewable energy are also included. This review aims to highlight essential features of sequence-defined synthetic polymers (e.g., high stability and protein-like high-information content) and how these unique features enable the construction of robust biomimetic functional materials with high programmability and predictability, with an emphasis on peptoids and their self-assembled nanomaterials.

Sequence-function relationship within water-soluble Peptoid Chelators for Cu2

Chelation of Cu²⁺ by synthetic molecules is an emerging therapeutic approach for treating several illnesses in human body such as Wilson disease, cancer and more. Among synthetic metal chelators, those based on peptoids - N-substituted glycine oligomers - are advantageous due to their structural similarity to peptides, ease of synthesis on solid support and versatile controlled sequences. Tuning peptoid sequences, via systematically changing at least one side chain, can facilitate and control their function. Along these lines, this work aims to explore the role of the non-coordinating side chain within peptoid chelators in order to understand the factors that control the selectivity of these chelators to Cu²⁺ in water medium. To this aim, a set of peptoid trimers having a pyridine group at the acetylated N-terminal, a 2,2'-bipyridine group at the second position and a non-coordinating group at the C-terminus, where the latter is systematically varied between aromatic, aliphatic, chiral or non-chiral, were investigated as selective chelators for Cu²⁺. The effect of the position of the non-coordinating group on the selectivity of the peptoid to Cu²⁺ was also tested. Based on extensive spectroscopic data, we found that the choice of the non-coordinating group along with its position dramatically influences the selectivity of the peptoids to Cu²⁺. We showed that peptoids having bulky chiral groups at the C-terminus enable high selectivity to Cu²⁺. We further demonstrated the ability of one of the selective chelators to remove Cu²⁺ from the natural copper binding protein metallothionein in HEPES (4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid) buffer medium.