Living Polymerization of N-Substituted β-Alanine N-Carboxyanhydrides: Kinetic Investigations and Preparation of an Amphiphilic Block Copoly-β-Peptoid

Poly(a-peptoid)s (N-substituted polyglycines) are interesting peptidomimetic biomaterials that have been discussed for many applications. Poly(beta-peptoid)s (N-substituted poly-beta-alanines), although equally intriguing, have received much less attention. Here we present results that suggest that while N-substituted beta-alanine N-carboxyanhydrides can undergo a living nucleophilic ring-opening polymerization, the solubility of poly(beta-peptoid)s can be very poor, which contributes to the limited accessibility using other synthetic approaches. The living character of the polymerization was utilized for the preparation of the first polymerized amphiphilic block copoly-beta-peptoid. Our results may open a new route towards highly defined functional poly(beta-peptoid)s which could represent biomaterials.