Polycationic Nanofibers for Nucleic Acid Scavenging.

Dying cells release nucleic acids (NA) and NA-containing complexes that activate inflammatory pathways of immune cells. Sustained activation of these pathways contributes to chronic inflammation frequently encountered in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. In this study, grafting of cationic polymers onto a nanofibrous mesh enabled local scavenging of negatively charged pro-inflammatory molecules in the extracellular space.

Anion-controlled foldamers.

This tutorial review provides a summary of anion-mediated folding of linear and cyclic oligomers as well as anion-responsive behaviours of related polymeric architectures. Anions have emerged as a significant focus of the supramolecular community and here we review their impact on directing the secondary structures of synthetic oligomers and polymers while modulating physical properties e.g.

Foldamers with helical cavities for binding complementary guests.

This tutorial review provides a summary of the binding of neutral molecules, cations and anions within helical cavities formed specifically by the folding of unnatural oligomers, called foldamers. Foldamers are emerging as a new class of synthetic receptors whose binding sites are not formed by preorganization of covalent bonds, but rather through the combination of various noncovalent interactions that induce folding and subsequent arrangement of functional groups within a helical cavity. The function of foldamers as synthetic receptors can be tuned by careful selection of modular building blocks displaying the appropriate functionality required for guest complexation.

Selective sulfate binding induces helical folding of an indolocarbazole oligomer in solution and solid state.

Hydrogen bonding to anions drives the helical folding of an indolocarbazole oligomer, thus resulting in an internal cavity with six NHs and two OHs for binding sulfate with high selectivity.

Anion binding of short, flexible aryl triazole oligomers.

The flexible, electropositive cavity of linear 1,4-diaryl-1,2,3-triazole oligomers provides a suitable host for complexation of various anions. The binding affinities for various combinations of oligomer and anion were determined by (1)H NMR titrations. Effective ionic radius is found to be a primary determinant of the relative binding interactions of various guests, with small but measurable deviations in the case of nonspherical anions.

Orthogonal control of dissociation dynamics relative to thermodynamics in a main-chain reversible polymer.

A pair of homologous and soluble reversible polymers display nearly identical solution structures but dramatically different dissociation dynamics (1.0 vs ca. 100 s-1) along their main chains.