The processes that enable the accurate flow of genetic information in biology, transcription of DNA into RNA, and translation into protein are template-directed polymerizations. Inspired by the Watson-Crick duplex structure of DNA, many attempts to emulate template-directed synthesis for the construction of sequence-specific and monodisperse materials have been reported; however, these attempts have had only limited success. A general method for accurate template-directed translation of an existing polymer could have as profound an effect on biomaterials research as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has had on biological and genome research. Employing the principles that drive these biological reactions, it has been possible to efficiently drive a ligation reaction as directed by a complementary template which shows the necessary accuracy to make oligomeric and polymeric materials. This proposal aims to demonstrate that it is possible to perform multiple coupling steps and accurately prepare complementary oligomeric materials from a polymeric template. Specifically, it is proposed to: 1) construct a novel amide-based template on which to control the reactions; 2) develop thermodynamically controlled conditions for imine coupling of designed monomers along the template; and 3) develop thermodynamically-controlled conditions for ring-opening metathesis polymerization of novel monomers to give sequence specific products. The demonstration of these general approaches could open new extensions of these and other reactions to the construction of specific oligomeric and polymeric biomaterials.
