The hierarchical growth of polymeric architectures

In order to arrive at controlled tertiary structures of synthetic polymers it is a prerequisite to design and synthesize mol. fragments that first self-assemble into secondary structures followed by their ordered aggregation. We have used quadruple hydrogen bonding units that form random coil polymers from difunctional monomers in solvents like chloroform. These polymers fold into helical superstructures in apolar solvents, while a preferred handedness of the helix is obtained by the introduction of stereocenters in the side chain. Since the chain length of the polymeric helix can be tuned by the addn. of monofunctional chain stoppers, we are able to connect two or more helixes. By now introducing structure-forming connectors between two chain stoppers, we are able to grow polymeric architectures in a hierarchical way. [on SciFinder (R)]