Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T10:56:07.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Toward Monodisperse Poly(γ–benzyl α,L-glutamate): Uniform, Polar, Molecular Rods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Guanghui Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Maurille J. Fournier
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Thomas L. Mason
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
David A. Tirrell
Affiliation:
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003
Get access

Extract

Poly(γ-benzyl α,L-glutamate) (PBLG) has been widely used in studies of the physics of rod-like polymer chains [1]. The helical structure of PBLG gives rise to considerable chain stiffness, such that the persistence length of the chain is on the order of 70 nm in helicogenic solvents [2]. This feature, coupled with the ease of synthesis and good solubility of the polymer has made PBLG the system of choice for the study of both isotropic [2,3] and liquid crystalline [4] solutions of rod-like macromolecules.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Block, H., Poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) and Other Glutamic Acid Containing Polymers (Gordon and Breach, New York, 1983).Google Scholar
2. DeLong, L.M. and Russo, P.S., Macromolecules, 24, 6139 (1991).Google Scholar
3. Mead, D.W. and Larson, R.G., Macromolecules, 23, 2524 (1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Horton, J.C., Donald, A.M. and Hill, A., Nature, 346, 44 (1990).Google Scholar
5. McMaster, T.J., Carr, H.J., Miles, M.J., Cairns, P. and Morris, V.J., Macromolecules, 24, 1428 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Creel, H.S., Fournier, M.J., Mason, T.L. and Tirrell, D.A., Macromolecules, 24, 1213 (1991).Google Scholar
7. McGrath, K.P., Fournier, M.J., Mason, T.L. and Tirrell, D.A., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 114, 727 (1992).Google Scholar
8. Tirrell, D.A., Fournier, M.J. and Mason, T.L., MRS Bulletin, 16(7), 23 (1991).Google Scholar
9. Zhang, G., Fournier, M.J., Mason, T.L. and Tirrell, D.A., submitted for publication.Google Scholar
10. Smith, D.B. and Johnson, K.S., Gene, 67, 31 (1988).Google Scholar
11. Smith, D.B. and Corcoran, L.M. in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, 2, 16.7.1 (ed. Ausubal, F.A. et al, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1990).Google Scholar
12. The dipole moment of the α-helix has been estimated at ca. 3.5D per residue. (A. Wada, Adv. Biophys. 1976, Vol.1).Google Scholar