Well-defined (co)polypeptides bearing pendant alkyne groups

A novel metal-free strategy, using hydrogen-bonding catalytic ring opening polymerization of alkyne-functionalized N-carboxy anhydrites of alpha-amino acids, was developed for the synthesis of well-defined polypeptides bearing pendant alkyne groups. This method provides an efficient way to synthesize novel alkyne-functionalized homopolypeptides (A) and copolypeptides, such as AB diblock (B: non-functionalized), ABA triblock and star-AB diblock, as well as linear and star random copolypeptides, which are precursors of a plethora of complex macromolecular architectures by click chemistry.