Ring opening polymerization of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides catalyzed by rare earth catalysts: Polymerization characteristics and mechanism

Five rare earth complexes are first introduced to catalyze ring opening polymerizations (ROPs) of γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate N‐carboxyanhydride (BLG NCA) and L ‐alanine NCA (ALA NCA) including rare earth isopropoxide (RE(OiPr)₃), rare earth tris(2,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐methylphenolate) (RE(OAr)₃), rare earth tris(borohydride) (RE(BH₄)₃(THF)₃), rare earth tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide] (RE(NTMS)₃), and rare earth trifluoromethanesulfonate. The first four catalysts exhibit high activities in ROPs producing polypeptides with quantitative yields (>90%) and moderate molecular weight (MW) distributions ranging from 1.2 to 1.6. In RE(BH₄)₃(THF)₃ and RE(NTMS)₃ catalytic systems, MWs of the produced polypeptides can be controlled by feeding ratios of monomer to catalyst, which is in contrast to the systems of RE(OiPr)₃ and RE(OAr)₃ with little controllability over the MWs. End groups of the polypeptides are analyzed by MALDI‐TOF MS and polymerization mechanisms are proposed accordingly. With ligands of significant steric hindrance in RE(OiPr)₃ and RE(OAr)₃, deprotonation of 3‐NH of NCA is the only initiation mode producing a N‐rare earth metallated NCA ( i ) responsible for further chain growth, resulting in α‐carboxylic‐ω‐aminotelechelic polypeptides after termination. In the case of RE(BH₄)₃(THF)₃ with small ligands, another initiation mode at 5‐CO position of NCA takes place simultaneously, resulting in α‐hydroxyl‐ω‐aminotelechelic polypeptides. In RE(NTMS)₃ system, the protonated ligand hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) initiates the polymerization and produces α‐amide‐ω‐aminotelechelic polypeptides. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Deprotonation reaction of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydride at 4‐CH position by yttrium tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide]

Reaction of yttrium tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide] [(TMSN)₃Y] with equivalent L ‐alanine N‐carboxyanhydride (ALA NCA) yields yttrium α‐isocyanato carboxylate ( II ), yttrium ketenyl carbamate ( III ), and hexamethyldisilazane ( V ). The products indicate that 4‐CH group of ALA NCA monomer is deprotonated in addition to 3‐NH group, which has been neglected in NCA chemistry for decades. This result proves the acidity of 4‐CH in NCA and provides the first direct evidence for racemization phenomenon of NCA in strong base in microscopic aspect. Rare earth tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide] (TMSN)₃Ln (Ln = Sc, Y, La, Dy, and Lu) compounds are high efficient catalysts for ring‐opening polymerizations of NCAs. Polypeptides can be produced in quantitative yields with narrow molecular weight distributions below 1.3, and block copolypeptides can be facilely prepared by sequential addition method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Cyclic polypeptides by thermal polymerization of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides

The NCAs of the following five amino acids were polymerized in bulk at 120 °C without addition of a catalyst or initiator: sarcosine (Sar), L ‐alanine (L ‐Ala), D ,L ‐phenylalanine (D ,L ‐Phe), D ,L ‐leucine (D ,L ‐Leu) and D ,L ‐valine (D,L ‐Val). The virgin reaction products were characterized by viscosity measurements ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry. In addition to numerous low molar mass byproducts cyclic polypeptides were formed as the main reaction products in the mass range above 800 Da. Two types of cyclic oligo‐ and polypeptides were detected in all cases with exception of sarcosine NCA, which only yielded one class of cyclic polypeptides. The efficient formation of cyclic oligo‐ and polypeptides explains why high molar mass polymers cannot be obtained by thermal polymerizations of α‐amino acid NCAs. Various polymerization mechanisms were discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 4012–4020, 2008     

Tertiary amine catalyzed polymerizations of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides: The role of cyclization

Sarcosine N‐carboxyanhydride, D,L ‐alanine N‐carboxyanhydride, D,L ‐phenylalanine N‐carboxyanhydride, and D,L ‐leucine N‐carboxyanhydride were polymerized with pyridine or N‐ethyldiisopropylamine as the catalyst. With pyridine, cyclic oligo‐ and polypeptides were obtained in addition to water‐initiated or water‐terminated chains. The cyclopeptides were the main products in the case of sarcosine N‐carboxyanhydride and D,L ‐phenylalanine N‐carboxyanhydride. The fraction of cycles was particularly high when N‐methylpyrrolidone was used as the reaction medium. These results suggested the existence of a pyridine‐catalyzed zwitterionic mechanism. However, cyclopeptides were also obtained with N‐ethyldiisopropylamine as the catalyst. In this case, N‐deprotonation of N‐carboxyanhydrides, followed by the formation of N‐acyl N‐carboxyanhydride chain ends, was the most likely initiation mechanism. Various chain‐growth mechanisms were examined. In the case of γ‐benzyl ester‐L ‐glutamate N‐carboxyanhydride, side reactions such as the formation of pyroglutamoyl end groups were detected. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4680–4695, 2006     

Optimization of an α‐(Amino acid)‐N‐carboxyanhydride polymerization using the high vacuum technique: Examining the effects of monomer concentration,polymerization kinetics,polymer molecular weight,and monomer purity

l ‐Ornithine‐based poly(peptides) have been widely utilized in the field of drug delivery, however few studies have been conducted examining the details of polymerization. In this article, the effects of monomer concentration, polymerization kinetics, polymer molecular weight and monomer purity were investigated using l ‐carboxybenzyl (Cbz)‐ornithine as a model monomer. The mechanism of polymerization herein follows the normal amine mechanism to produce poly(peptides) having controlled molecular weights, known chain ends and a narrow polydispersity index (PDI). A preferred monomer concentration range was determined, which required minimal polymerization times and allowed for predictable and reproducible molecular weights with narrow PDIs. The impact of monomer purity on the polymerization was established and monomer purification conditions are reported, which produce high‐purity monomer after a single recrystallization. Additionally, the optimized polymerization conditions and monomer purification protocol were combined with a sequential monomer addition technique to produce high molecular weight poly(ornithine) with a narrow PDI and known chain ends. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1385–1391     

Living polymerization of α‐amino acid‐N‐carboxyanhydrides

This article reviews recent developments in the polymerization of α‐amino acid‐ N‐carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) to form polypeptides. Traditional methods used to polymerize these monomers are described, and limitations in the utility of these systems for the preparation of polypeptides with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions are discussed. The development of transition‐metal‐based initiators, which activate the monomers to form covalent active species, permits the formation of polypeptides via the living polymerization of NCAs. In these systems, polymer molecular weights are controlled by monomer‐to‐initiator stoichiometry, polydispersities are low, and block copolypeptides can be prepared. The scope and limitations of these initiators and their key features and mode of operation are described in detail in this highlight. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3011–3018, 2000     

Imidazole‐initiated polymerizations of α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides – simultaneous chain‐growth and step‐growth polymerization

The N‐carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) of sarcosine (Sar), D ,L ‐leucine (D ,L ‐Leu), D ,L ‐phenylalanine (D ,L ‐Phe), and L ‐alanine (L ‐Ala) were polymerized in dioxane. Imidazole served as initiator and the NCA/initiator ratio was varied from 1/1 to 40/1. The isolated polypeptides were characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, by MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry, by viscosity measurements, and by SEC measurements in the case of poly(sarcosine). Cyclic oligopeptides were found in all reaction products and in the case of polySar, poly(D ,L ‐Leu), and poly(D ,L ‐Phe) the cycles were the main products. In the case of poly(L ‐Ala), rapid precipitation of β‐sheet lamellaes prevented efficient cyclizations and stabilized imidazolide endgroups. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5690–5698, 2005     

Hydroxyl‐tolerated polymerization of N‐phenoxycarbonyl α‐amino acids: A simple way to polypeptides bearing hydroxyl groups

Differing from the moisture‐sensitive α‐amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides (AA‐NCAs) monomers, N‐phenoxycarbonyl α‐amino acids (AA‐NPCs) can be prepared and stored in open air. In this contribution, we report that the controlled polymerizations of AA‐NPC monomers of O‐tert‐butyl‐dl ‐serine (BRS‐NPC), N^ε‐benzyloxycarbonyl‐l ‐lysine (ZLL‐NPC) and N^ε‐trifluoroacetyl‐l ‐lysine (FLL‐NPC) initiated by amines are surprisingly able to tolerate common nucleophilic impurities such as water and alcohols at a level of monomer concentration. The structures of polypeptides synthesized in the presence of water or alcohols agree well with the designed ones in the case of repeated chain extensions. Detailed mechanism study and density functional theory calculation reveal that the low concentration of AA‐NCA and the high activity of amines are the key factors to the controllability of AA‐NPC polymerizations. The water‐ and alcohol‐tolerant property in polymerizations of AA‐NPCs encourages the following studies on unprotected (phenolic) hydroxyl groups containing AA‐NPCs. The controllable polymerizations of N‐phenoxycarbonyl l ‐tyrosine (LT‐NPC) and N‐phenoxycarbonyl S‐(3‐hydroxypropyl)‐l ‐cysteine (HLC‐NPC) initiated by amines are confirmed and reported for the first time, which extends the library of AA‐NPCs and polypeptides as well. All the universality of library, the convenience of monomer preparation, and the controllability and water‐ and alcohol‐tolerant property of polymerization of AA‐NPCs significantly enhance the feasibility of polypeptide synthesis, making AA‐NPC approach a promising synthetic method of polypeptides. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 907–916     

Convenient synthesis of poly(γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate) from activated urethane derivatives of γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate

A series of activated urethane‐type derivatives of γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate were synthesized, and their potential as monomers for polypeptide synthesis was investigated. The derivatives of the focus of this work were a series of N‐aryloxycarbonyl‐γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate 1 , of which aryl groups were phenyl, 4‐chlorophenyl, and 4‐nitrophenyl. These urethanes 1 were reactive in polar solvents such as dimethylsulfoxide, N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF), and N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and were efficiently converted into poly(γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate) (poly(BLG)) under mild conditions; at 60 °C without addition of any catalyst. Among the three urethanes, that having 4‐nitrophenoxycarbonyl group 1c was the most reactive to give poly(BLG) efficiently, as was expected from the highly electron deficient nature of the nitrophenoxycarbonyl group. On the other hand, the urethane 1a having phenoxycarbonyl group was also efficiently converted into poly(BLG), in spite of the intrinsically less electrophilicity of the phenoxycarbonyl group. In addition, the successful formation of poly(BLG) by the reaction of 1a favored its diluted concentration (0.1 M) much more than 2.0 M, the optimum initial concentration for 1c . ¹H NMR spectroscopic analyses of the reactions in situ revealed that the predominant pathway from 1 to poly(BLG) involved the intramolecular cyclization of 1 into the corresponding N‐carboxyanhydride, with release of phenol and its successive ring‐opening polymerization with release of carbon dioxide. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2649–2657, 2008     

Synthesis and ring‐opening (co)polymerization of L‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydrides containing labile side‐chain protective groups

This contribution describes the synthesis and ring‐opening (co)polymerization of several L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) that contain labile protective groups at the ?‐NH₂ position. Four of the following L ‐lysine NCAs were investigated: N^?‐trifluoroacetyl‐L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydride, N^?‐(tert‐butoxycarbonyl)‐L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydride, N^?‐(9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)‐L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydride, and N^?‐(6‐nitroveratryloxycarbonyl)‐L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydride. In contrast to the harsh conditions that are required for acidolysis of benzyl carbamate moieties, which are usually used to protect the ?‐NH₂ position of L ‐lysine during NCA polymerization, the protective groups of the L ‐lysine NCAs presented here can be removed under mildly acidic or basic conditions or by photolysis. As a consequence, these monomers may allow access to novel peptide hybrid materials that cannot be prepared from ?‐benzyloxycarbonyl‐L ‐lysine N‐carboxyanhydride (Z‐Lys NCA) because of side reactions that accompany the removal of the Z groups. By copolymerization of these L ‐lysine NCAs with labile protective groups, either with each other or with γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate N‐carboxyanhydride or Z‐Lys NCA, orthogonally side‐chain‐protected copolypeptides with number‐average degrees of polymerization ≤20 were obtained. Such copolypeptides, which contain different side‐chain protective groups that can be removed independently, are interesting for the synthesis of complex polypeptide architectures or can be used as scaffolds for the preparation of synthetic antigens or protein mimetics. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1167–1187, 2003     

Ring‐opening polymerization of L‐lactide by rare‐earth tris(4‐tert‐butylphenolate) single‐component initiators

The ring‐opening polymerization of L ‐lactide initiated by single‐component rare‐earth tris(4‐tert‐butylphenolate)s was conducted. The influences of the rare‐earth elements, solvents, temperature, monomer and initiator concentrations, and reaction time on the polymerization were investigated in detail. No racemization was found from 70 to 100 °C under the examined conditions. NMR and differential scanning calorimetry measurements further confirmed that the polymerization occurred without epimerization of the monomer or polymer. A kinetic study indicated that the polymerization rate was first‐order with respect to the monomer and initiator concentrations. The overall activation energy of the ring‐opening polymerization was 79.2 kJ mol^?1. ¹H NMR data showed that the L ‐lactide monomer inserted into the growing chains with acyl–oxygen bond cleavage. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 6209–6215, 2004     

Synthesis,structural characterization and cytotoxic activity of diorganotin(IV) complexes of N‐(5‐halosalicylidene)‐α‐amino acid

Fourteen new diorganotin(IV) complexes of N‐(5‐halosalicylidene)‐α‐amino acid, R′₂Sn(5‐X‐2‐OC₆H₃CH?NCHRCOO) (where X = Cl, Br; R = H, Me, i‐Pr; R′ = n‐Bu, Ph, Cy), were synthesized by the reactions of diorganotin halides with potassium salt of N‐(5‐halosalicylidene)‐α‐amino acid and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and NMR (¹H, ¹³C and ¹¹⁹Sn) spectra. The crystal structures of Bu₂Sn(5‐Cl‐2‐OC₆H₃CH?NCH(i‐Pr)COO) and Ph₂Sn(5‐Br‐2‐OC₆H₃CH?NCH(i‐Pr)COO) were determined by X‐ray single‐crystal diffraction and showed that the tin atoms are in a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry and form five‐ and six‐membered chelate rings with the tridentate ligand. Bioassay results of a few compounds indicated that the compounds have strong cytotoxic activity against three human tumour cell lines, i.e. HeLa, CoLo205 and MCF‐7, and the activity decreased in the order Cy>n‐Bu>Ph for the R′ group bound to tin. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two‐Step Backbiting Reaction in the Ring‐Opening Polymerization of γ‐Acryloyloxy‐ε‐caprolactone Initiated with Aluminium Isopropoxide

γ‐Acryloyloxyethyl‐γ‐butyrolactone is formed as a byproduct when the polymerization of γ‐acryloyloxy‐ε‐caprolactone is initiated with aluminium isopropoxide in toluene. The extent of this side reaction decreases with decreasing temperature and is dependent on whether the reaction is stopped as soon as monomer conversion is complete or not. A two‐step backbiting mechanism is proposed for this intramolecular transesterification reaction.     

Synthesis of polypeptides from activated urethane derivatives of α‐amino acids

A series of activated urethane‐type derivatives of α‐amino acids were synthesized and applied to polypeptide synthesis. The urethane used herein, N‐(4‐nitrophenoxycarbonyl)‐α‐amino acids 1 , were synthesized by N‐carbamoylation of γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate, β‐benzyl‐L ‐aspartate, L ‐leucine, L ‐phenylalanine, and L ‐proline, with 4‐nitrophenyl chloroformate. When 1 was dissolved in N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and heated at 60 °C, it was smoothly converted into the corresponding polypeptides with releasing 4‐nitrophenol and carbon dioxide. Spectroscopic analyses of the obtained polypeptides revealed that they were comparable with the authentic polypeptides synthesized by the ring‐opening polymerizations of amino acid N‐carboxyanhydrides (NCAs). Besides the successful polycondensations of a series of 1 , their polycondensations of 1a and other 1 were also successfully carried out to obtain the corresponding statistic copolypeptides. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2525–2535, 2008     

Synthesis and characterization of resorcinarene‐centered eight‐arm poly(ε‐caprolactone) stars catalyzed by yttrium complex

Two novel multifunctional precursors with eight alcoholic hydroxyls were synthesized by derivatization of resorcinarene. Well‐defined eight‐arm star‐shaped poly(ε‐caprolactone)s (SPCLs) with reasonably narrow molecular weight distributions have been successfully prepared using the precursors as macro‐initiators and yttrium tris(2,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐methylphenolate) [Y(DBMP)₃] as catalyst at 40 °C. The molecular weight of SPCLs was characterized by end group ¹H NMR analyses and size‐exclusion chromatography, which could be well controlled by the molar ratio of the monomer to the precursor. The polymerization is more controllable with the precursor holding longer hydrocarbon chains as R groups. Differential scanning calorimetry analyses suggested that the maximal melting point, the crystallization temperature, and the degree of crystallinities of SPCLs increased with the increasing of the molecular weight, and were significantly lower than that of the counterpart linear poly(ε‐caprolactone) (LPCL). Furthermore, polarized optical microscopy indicated that LPCL showed fast crystallization rate with apparent Maltese cross pattern, whereas SPCL exhibited irregular spherulite and apparently slower crystallization rate. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2108–2118, 2008