Professor Christopher A. Alabi

The precise placement of functional groups along a polymer chain plays a key role in encoding specific intra- and intermolecular interactions that direct self-assembly into discrete architectures. Biopolymers known to associate with specific geometries and stoichiometries have been exploited for the assembly of synthetic building blocks. However, such systems are neither scalable nor amenable to the relatively harsh conditions required by various materials science applications, particularly those involving non-aqueous environments. To overcome these limitations, I will discuss our work on sequence-defined oligocarbamates (SeDOCs) and data highlighting the effect of sequence on network topology, mechanical and optical properties. I will then discuss SeDOC ligands that assemble into duplexes through complementary hydrogen bonds between thymine (T) and diaminotriazine (D) pendant groups. We’ve successfully synthesized monovalent, divalent, and trivalent SeDOCs and characterized their hybridization via a variety of techniques, including diffusion ordered spectroscopy, 1 H-NMR titration, and isothermal titration calorimetry. Our findings reveal that the binding strength of monovalent oligomers with complementary pendant groups is entropically driven and independent of monomer sequence, that hybridization of multivalent oligomers is cooperative, and that SeDOCs ligands bearing D and T groups exhibit signatures of enthalpy- entropy compensation.

Christopher A. Alabi