ABSTRACT
A common approach to generate tailored materials and nanoparticles (NPs) is the formation of molecular monolayers by chemisorption of bifunctional anchor molecules. This approach depends critically on the choice of a suitable anchor group. Recently, bifunctional catecholates, inspired by mussel-adhesive proteins (MAPs) and bacterial siderophores, have received considerable interest as anchor groups for biomedically relevant metal surfaces and nanoparticles. We report here the synthesis of new tripodal catecholates as multivalent anchor molecules for immobilization on metal surfaces and nanoparticles. The tripodal catecholates have been conjugated to various effector molecules such as PEG, a sulfobetaine and an adamantyl group. The potential of these conjugates has been demonstrated with the immobilization of tripodal catecholates on ZnO NPs. The results confirmed a high loading of tripodal PEG-catecholates on the particles and the formation of stable PEG layers in aqueous solution.
ABSTRACT
We present an optimized procedure for the synthesis of (S)-vinylglycine from (S)-methionine. The key step is a solvent free pyrolysis of an intermediate sulfoxide at high temperature. Using our optimized reaction conditions, Cbz-protected vinylglycine was obtained in high yield and with almost no side products. The protocol is scalable, fast and avoids the use of poisonous reagents.
