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A-Helical Polypeptide Monolayers, Erwin P. Enriquez

Chemistry Faculty Publications

In efforts to utilize the a-helical structural motif as a basic building block in the formation of supramolecular assemblies, a study of the self-assembly of a-helical poly(glutamate)s from dilute solution onto a solid support was initiated. In particular, poly(y-benzyl-L-glutamate) [PBLG], which has an unusually robust a-helical conformation, was functionalized at the amino terminus with a disulfide-containing moiety (lipoic acid), which in turn has a specific and strong chemisorptive interaction with gold surfaces. The same end group functionalization was used with the /i-alkyl side chain analogs of PBLG. The resulting self-assembled monolayers were characterized by grazing angle reflection infrared (GIR-IR) spectroscopy, …