Site-Selective Trimodular Polymerization to Amino Acid-Based Poly(ether amide)s with Divergent Properties.

Authors

Xingpei Hong, Guangzhao Zhang, Junpeng Zhao

Published in

Journal of the American Chemical Society. Jul 21, 2026. Epub Jul 21, 2026.

Abstract

Amido groups are ubiquitous in natural and synthetic polymers and impart critical physiological and physicochemical properties. Conventional access to backbone-amido polymers, polyamides, generally relies on harsh conditions or highly reactive monomers to form amide bonds during polymerization. Here, we report a mild and atom-economic pathway to poly(ether amide)s (PEAs) through the linear step polymerization of diepoxides and amide-bearing primary diols formed in situ by amino alcohols, mostly derived from natural amino acids, and a reactive solvent, γ-butyrolactone. The unique chemoselectivity of the Lewis pair (organo)catalyst enables preferential activation of primary hydroxyl groups toward epoxy ring opening in this multiprotonic system containing secondary/tertiary hydroxyl and amido groups. The trimodular synthesis and abundant starting materials can be well-utilized for structural diversification and property refinement of PEAs, as showcased by their high interfacial performance in two divergent directions: (1) broad-spectrum protein resistance for the more hydrophilic ones, and (2) robust adhesion on various substrates even after 10 reuse cycles or at liquid nitrogen temperature, for the more hydrophobic ones.

PMID:
42480020
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 22 Jul 2026.

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