Multiple Levels of Organization in Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers Based on Poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) Produced by Aqueous ROPISA.

A recent method for producing amphiphilic block copolymers and nano-objects based on the ring-opening polymerization-induced self-assembly (ROPISA) in aqueous buffer is explored with respect to the tunability toward nanostructures. ROPISA gives rise to polypeptide copolymers with unprecedented levels of organization. By employing amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with the synthetic polypeptide poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (PBLG) and a combination of static (C NMR, X-ray scattering, polarizing optical microscopy), thermodynamic (differential scanning calorimetry), and dynamic (dielectric spectroscopy) probes, we demonstrate a record of six levels of organization only found before in natural materials.