Controlled synthesis of polypeptides

Polypeptides are one kind of promising biodegradable and biocompatible biomedical polymers with the structural units of various alpha-amino acids. Polypeptides were first polymerized by the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of alpha-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) by Leuchs and Hermann in 1906. In the past decades, several effective strategies, including the selection of initiators, the adjustment of reaction conditions, and the introduction of catalysts, have been reported to improve the controllability of the ROP of various alpha-amino acid NCAs to synthesize different polypeptides with precise chemical structures and low polydispersity indexes. In this Review, the strategies, mechanisms, challenges, and opportunities for controlled synthesis of polypeptides by the ROP of different alpha-amino acid NCAs have been declared. (C) 2020 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.