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Abstract
Amino acids, the natural building blocks of life, are highly functional small molecules with chirality and important catalytic properties. Imparting the exquisite properties of amino acids into the macromolecules allows us to prepare unique, well-defined, biocompatible, functional, and tailorable materials. They exhibit stimuli responsiveness, tunable optical characteristics, enhanced thermal, mechanical, and biological properties with desired cell-materials interactions. Considering the salient features and diverse applications of side-chain amino acid-containing polymers, in this feature article, we present a concise highlight on the recent trends (2015–present) of the synthesis and utilization of pendant amino acid-based polymeric architectures. This article covers the synthesis of different classes of side-chain amino acid-derived polymeric architectures, and their recent utilization in drug and gene delivery, antibacterial activity, anti-fouling activity, heavy metal ion sensing, tissue engineering, etc. We hope that this study will provide a comprehensive outline of key aspects associated with the construction of functional ‘bio-inspired’ polymeric materials with desired characteristics, and their enhanced potential applications.
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Acknowledgments
SP acknowledges Ministry of Education for the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF).
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Notes on contributors
Tanmoy Maity
Tanmoy Maity is currently a Junior Research Fellow (JRF)-Project student in Prof. Priyadarsi De's group in the Department of Chemical Sciences at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), India. He has completed his Master of Science (MS) from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore in 2022. His research interest includes RAFT-based synthesis of side-chain amino acid-based polymers for diverse biological applications.
Soumya Paul
Soumya Paul is currently a Senior Research Fellow (SRF) in Prof. Priyadarsi De's group in the Department of Chemical Sciences at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), India. He received his BS-MS degree in Chemical Sciences from IISER Kolkata in 2020. He was awarded Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) in 2021. He is working on the nitric oxide (NO) releasing polymeric platforms for various biomedical applications.
Priyadarsi De
Dr. Priyadarsi De is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), India. He received his Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. After his post-doctoral studies at UMASS Lowell (2002–2006) and Southern Methodist University (2007–2008), he worked in PhaseRx, Inc., Seattle, for fifteen months before joining IISER Kolkata in November, 2009. His research group at IISER Kolkata mostly works on controlled synthesis of bio-inspired macromolecular architectures from naturally occurring amino acids and fatty acid based renewable resources for various applications. He is Associate Editor of Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A: Pure and Applied Chemistry (Taylor & Francis Group, April, 2019 to Present), and Editorial Advisory Board Member of Polymer Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry, September 2015 - Present).