Excursions of synthetic organic chemists to the world of oligomers and polymers

Abstract

The activities of a group devoted to organic synthesis in the field of polymer and oligomer chemistry have led to new types of dendritic cross-linking compounds for the polymerization of styrene to give high-quality materials. In addition the synthesis of uniform ('monodisperse'), high-molecular weight oligomers of 3-hydroxybutanoic acid provided samples for investigations to prove the hypothesis that polyhydroxybutyrates are natural ion-channel components in living organisms. Oligomers of β-amino acids were prepared and have been shown to form all the secondary structures known from natural peptides and proteins (composed of α-amino acids), i.e. helices, pleated sheets, turns, hair pins and stacks with properties differing fundamentally from those of the natural analogs.