Synthesis of Alternating Polyisocyanate Copolymers by Anionic Polymerization for Mimicking Amphiphilic Helical Peptides

Abstract The amphiphilic conformation of α ‐helical peptides has important biological functions, such as ion transport, antifreeze, and innate immunity, which can be mimicked by alternating polyisocyanate copolymers. We synthesized poly(allyl isocyanate ‐alt‐ ( S )‐(−)‐α‐methylbenzyl isocyanate (P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC)) and ammonium‐containing P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC) (N‐P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC)), ensuring the amphiphilic helical conformation. The benzyl group of SMBIC plays an important role in alternating copolymerization with its steric and electron‐withdrawing effects, while AIC provides an alkene group capable of introducing a customized functional group. The P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC) with predominantly alternating sequence was acquired at f SMBIC / f AIC =8 with a controlled molecular weight and narrow dispersity. N‐P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC)s were synthesized from thiol‐ene radical addition with P(AIC ‐alt‐ SMBIC).