AEI 89 |
| Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has been used to study two types of biomimetic systems not traditionally explored by ITC. The first example reports one of the few known cases of hetero-duplex formation by synthetic foldamers in water akin to DNA. Foldamers were prepared via solid-phase synthesis of functionalized naphthalenes. Several design elements contribute to the robust chain discrimination displayed by this enthalpically-driven system. NMR and electrophoresis experiments corroborate the microcalorimetry findings. The second example examines membrane binding by a series of norbornene polymers synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization as part of an effort to develop antimicrobial materials. Binding is entropically favorable and polymers that are bioactive, determined by several microbiological assays, bind with similar strengths but surprisingly with different binding stoichiometries. These two examples illustrate how ITC can provide bioorganic chemists an information-rich tool to explore important self-assembly and binding processes within an interdisciplinary program. |
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Academic Employment Initiative
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Sci-Mix
Academic Employment Initiative |