Nature has developed protein-based adhesives whose underwater performance has attracted much research attention over the last few decades. The adhesive proteins are rich in catechols combined with amphiphilic and ionic features. This combination of features constitutes a supramolecular toolbox, to provide stimuli-responsive processing of the adhesive, to secure strong adhesion to a variety of surfaces, and to control the cohesive properties of the material. Here, the versatile interactions used in adhesives secreted by sandcastle worms and mussels are explored. These biological principles are then put in a broader perspective, and synthetic adhesive systems that are based on different types of supramolecular interactions are summarized. The variety and combinations of interactions that can be used in the design of new adhesive systems are highlighted.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201704640 | DOI Listing |
Biomacromolecules
January 2025
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, CAS, Heyrovského nám. 2, Praha 6 162 06, Czech Republic.
Multifunctional polymers are interesting substances for the formulation of drug molecules that cannot be administered in their pure form due to their pharmacokinetic profiles or side effects. Polymer-drug formulations can enhance pharmacological properties or create tissue specificity by encapsulating the drug into nanocontainers, or stabilizing nanoparticles for drug transport. We present the synthesis of multifunctional poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline--2-glyco-2-oxazoline)s containing two reactive end groups, and an additional hydrophobic anchor at one end of the molecule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcc Chem Res
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0B8, Canada.
ConspectusStructural DNA nanotechnology offers a unique self-assembly toolbox to construct soft materials of arbitrary complexity, through bottom-up approaches including DNA origami, brick, wireframe, and tile-based assemblies. This toolbox can be expanded by incorporating interactions orthogonal to DNA base-pairing such as metal coordination, small molecule hydrogen bonding, π-stacking, fluorophilic interactions, or the hydrophobic effect. These interactions allow for hierarchical and long-range organization in DNA supramolecular assemblies through a DNA-minimal approach: the use of fewer unique DNA sequences to make complex structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomacromolecules
January 2025
Laboratory for Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy.
Cyclic poly(2-methyl-2-oxazine) (-PMOZI) brush shells on Au nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit enhanced stealth properties toward serum and different cell lines compared to their linear PMOZI (-PMOZI) counterparts. While selectively recruiting immunoglobulins, -PMOZI shells reduce overall human serum (HS) protein binding and alter the processing of complement factor 3 (C3) compared to chemically identical linear shells. Polymer cyclization significantly decreases NP uptake by nonphagocytic cells and macrophages in both complement-deficient fetal bovine serum (FBS) and complement-expressing HS, indicating ineffective functional opsonization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChem Soc Rev
October 2024
Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.
Supramolecular gels are unique materials formed through the self-assembly of molecular building blocks, typically low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs), driven by non-covalent interactions. The process of crystallization within supramolecular gels has broadened the scope of the traditional gel-phase crystallization technique offering the possibility of obtaining crystals of higher quality and size. The broad structural diversity of LMWGs allows crystallization in multiple organic and aqueous solvents, favouring screening and optimization processes and the possibility to search for novel polymorphic forms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China.
Promoting the generation of triplet states is essential for developing efficient photocatalytic systems. This research presents a novel approach of host-stabilized through-space conjugation via the combination of covalent and non-covalent methods. The designed building block, 4,4'-(1,4(1,4)-dibenzene cyclohexaphane-1,4-diyl)bis(1-phenylpyridinium) chloride, features inherently stable through-space conjugation.
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