AN UNNATURAL BIOPOLYMER

A highly efficient method has been developed for the solid-phase synthesis of an ''unnatural biopolymer'' consisting of chiral aminocarbonate monomers linked via a carbamate backbone. Oligocarbamates were synthesized from N-protected p-nitrophenyl carbonate monomers, substituted with a variety of side chains, with greater than 99 percent overall coupling efficiencies per step. A spatially defined library of oligocarbamates was generated by using photochemical methods and screened for binding affinity to a monoclonal antibody. A number of high-affinity ligands were then synthesized and analyzed in solution with respect to their inhibition concentration values, water/octanol partitioning coefficients, and proteolytic stability. These and other unnatural polymers may provide new frameworks for drug development and for testing theories of protein and peptide folding and structure.