Atom transfer radical polymerization with polypeptide initiators:: A general approach to block copolymers of sequence-defined polypeptides and synthetic polymers

A novel two-step polymerization strategy allowing the integration of sequence-defined oligopeptides into synthetic polymers has been demonstrated by the successful synthesis of an oligopeptide macroinitiator (SPPS) followed by solution-phase atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiated by the oligopeptide macroinitiator. The resulting block copolymer exhibited a low M-w/(M) over bar (n) (1.19) and a controllable (M) over bar (n).