Understanding the folding process of synthetic polymers by small-molecule folding agents

Ramkumar, SG and Ramakrishnan, S (2008) Understanding the folding process of synthetic polymers by small-molecule folding agents. In: 10th National Symposium in Chemistry, FEB 01-03, 2008, Bangalore.

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Abstract

Two acceptor containing polyimides PDI and NDI carrying pyromellitic diimide units and 1,4,5,8-naphthalene tetracarboxy diimide units, respectively, along with hexa(oxyethylene) (EO6) segments as linkers, were prepared from the corresponding dianhydrides and diamines. These polyimides were made to fold by interaction with specifically designed folding agents containing a dialkoxynaphtha-lene (DAN) donor linked to a carboxylic acid group. The alkali-metal counter-ion of the donor carboxylic acid upon complexation with the EO6 segment brings the DAN unit in the right location to induce a charge-transfer complex formation with acceptor units in the polymer backbone. This two-point interaction between the folding agent and the polymer backbone leads to a folding of the polymer chain, which was readily monitored by NMR titrations. The effect of various parameters, such as structures of the folding agent and polymer, and the solvent composition, on the folding propensities of the polymer was studied.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Publisher:	Springer
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Springer.
Keywords:	Polyimides;NMR titration;foldamer;folding agent.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Inorganic & Physical Chemistry
Date Deposited:	12 Apr 2010 08:45
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/26869

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