RESUMO
The bottom-up approach in synthetic biology involves the engineering of synthetic cells by designing biological and chemical building blocks, which can be combined in order to mimic cellular functions. The first step for mimicking a living cell is the design of an appropriate compartment featuring a multifunctional membrane. This is of particular interest since it allows for the selective attachment of different groups or molecules to the membrane. In this context, we report on a modular approach for polymeric vesicles, so-called polymersomes, with a multifunctional surface, namely hydroxyl, alkyne and acrylate groups. We demonstrate that the surface of the polymersome can be functionalized to facilitate imaging, via fluorescent dyes, or to improve the specific adhesion to surfaces by using a biotin functionalization. This generally applicable multifunctionality allows for the covalent integration of various molecules in the membrane of a synthetic cell.
RESUMO
A switch from carbanions to aza-anions is performed by the addition of N-tosylaziridine (TAz) to living poly(styryl) (PS) chains. This is the first example of carbanionic aziridine ring-opening which was previously activated by amidation with a tosyl group to enable nucleophilic ring-opening by the living chain end. Poly(styrene)-tosylaziridines (PS-TAz) with narrow molecular weight distributions and variable molecular weights are synthesized. The removal of the tosyl group and subsequent functionalization is shown, evidencing quantitative transfer to azaanionic species. All polymers are characterized in detail by (1) H NMR spectroscopy, DOSY (1) H NMR spectroscopy, and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). This strategy allows the introduction of amine groups via anionic polymerization in analogy to the well-established epoxide termination.
