Polymers 'click' together using green chemistry

Date:
August 16, 2021
Source:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Summary:
A multi-institutional team of chemists harnessed the power of a
dangerous gas called SOF4 to create new modifiable polymers useful
for drug discovery and material science. The team used a type of
rapid and reliable chemistry known as click chemistry to 'click'
these molecules together without producing toxic byproducts.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
SOF4 is a gas that was discovered over a hundred years ago but is rarely
used because it is difficult to prepare and highly reactive. Now a collaboration of chemists including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor John E.

Moses, Nobel laureate K. Barry Sharpless and Associate Professor Peng Wu,
both of Scripps Research, and Han Zuilhof of Wageningen University found
a way to use the molecule safely as building blocks for new products. In a paper in Nature Chemistry, they describe a new set of modifiable polymers
made from SOF4.


==========================================================================
It was a team effort to tame the molecule. Zuilhof says, "The goals
of the various research groups were different, but we combined all
our expertise to achieve our many goals." Suhua Li, the lead author of
the study and a former postdoc in Sharpless' lab, started with a tiny
container of the gas in the lab, but after he used that up, he says,
"there was no more SOF4 available anywhere in the world. The great
potential of the SOF4 chemistry inspired me to make the gas by myself,
even though the procedure seemed dangerous." The SOF4 molecule could
be used as a hub to link together diverse components into a modular
family of new -- and potentially valuable -- materials. Even more
importantly, the scientists found that the reactions could be done in
an environmentally safe way without dangerous solvents and polluting
byproducts - - a form of what chemists call "click chemistry."
Click chemistry allows users to "click" together two molecules with
precision, speed, and reliability. The team used SOF4 to form long
chains -- polymers - - with room for important modifications. Moses
says: "That's why click chemistry is great, really! These polymers
could be made in one day. As long as we have the gas, we could do
all that chemistry in one day, make a polymer, and post-modify it
in one day. That's incredibly fast." This new chemistry will allow
scientists to generate a vast new library of polymers, each with its
own distinct properties and applications in drug discovery and material science. Sharpless says, "It is the making and breaking of the nascent,
growing polymer links that let us access what seems magical." Moses adds:
"The opportunity for these polymers, I think, is infinite. There are so
many things we can do with it, really. We're limited by our imagination." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Cold_Spring_Harbor_Laboratory. Original written by Luis Sandoval. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Li, S., et al. SuFExable polymers with helical structures derived
from
thionyl tetrafluoride. Nature Chemistry, August 16, 2021 DOI:
10.1038/ s41557-021-00726-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210816112053.htm

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