Foldamers with Heterogeneous Backbones

The functions performed by proteins and nucleic acids provide the foundation for life. Chemists have recently begun to ask whether it is possible to design synthetic oligomers that approach the structural and functional complexities of these biopolymers. The study of foldamers, non-natural oligomers displaying discrete folding propensities, has demonstrated that there are several synthetic backbones that exhibit biopolymer-like conformational behavior. Early work in this area focused on oligomers comprised of a single type of monomer subunit, but recent efforts have highlighted the potential of mixed or "heterogeneous" backbones to expand the structural and functional repertoire of foldamers. In this Account,…