Open AccessDNA-Mediated Step-Growth Polymerization of Bottlebrush Macromonomers
Author(s) -
Xueguang Lu,
Hailin Fu,
KuoChih Shih,
Fei Jia,
Yehui Sun,
Dali Wang,
Yuyan Wang,
Stephen Ekatan,
MuPing Nieh,
Yao Lin,
Ke Zhang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the american chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.115
H-Index - 612
eISSN - 1520-5126
pISSN - 0002-7863
DOI - 10.1021/jacs.0c03806
Subject(s) - chemistry , polymerization , branching (polymer chemistry) , polymer , macromonomer , monomer , dna , polymer architecture , polymer chemistry , molecule , organic chemistry , biochemistry
Herein, we report the DNA-mediated self-assembly of bivalent bottlebrush polymers, a process akin to the step-growth polymerization of small molecule monomers. In these "condensation reactions", the polymer serves as a steric guide to limit DNA hybridization in a fixed direction, while the DNA serves as a functional group equivalent, connecting complementary brushes to form well-defined, one-dimensional nanostructures. The polymerization was studied using spectroscopy, microscopy, and scattering techniques and was modeled numerically. The model made predictions of the degree of polymerization and size distribution of the assembled products, and suggested the potential for branching at hybridization junctions, all of which were confirmed experimentally. This study serves as a theoretical basis for the polymer-assembly approach which has the potential to open up new possibilities for suprapolymers with controlled architecture, macromonomer sequence, and end-group functionalities.