Stereoregular Polymerization within Template Nanospaces

Stereoregular Isotactic Poly(mandelic acid) via Organocatalytic Ring-Opening Polymerization of a Cyclic O-carboxyanhydride**

Poly(mandelic acid), PMA, is an aryl analogue of poly(lactic acid), PLA, and a biodegradable analogue of polystyrene. Preparation of stereoregular PMA is reported for the first time in this work using a pyridine-mandelic acid adduct (Py·MA) as an organocatalyst for the ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) of the cyclic O-carboxyanhydride, manOCA. Polymers with narrow polydispersity index and excel...

Stereoregular Brush Polymers and Graft Copolymers by Chiral Zirconocene-Mediated Coordination Polymerization of P3HT Macromers

Two poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) macromers containing a donor polymer with a polymerizable methacrylate (MA) end group, P3HT-CH2-MA and P3HT-(CH2)2-MA, have been synthesized, and P3HT-(CH2)2-MA has been successfully homopolymerized and copolymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) into stereoregular brush polymers and graft copolymers, respectively, using chiral ansa-zirconocene catalysts. Macr...

Template-free, polymerase-free DNA polymerization.

A combination of a DNA ligase and a restriction endonuclease provides a DNA polymerase activity, which might suggest a novel strategy for polymer synthesis.

Cationic Rhodium Complexes with Hemilabile Phosphine Ligands as Polymerization Catalyst for High Molecular Weight Stereoregular Polyphenylacetylene

tRNA Maturation: RNA Polymerization without a Nucleic Acid Template

The CCA-adding enzyme, which builds and repairs the 3' terminal CCA sequence of tRNA, is the only RNA polymerase that can synthesize a defined nucleotide sequence without using a nucleic acid template. New cocrystal structures tell us how this remarkable enzyme works.