Chromatography columns packed with thermoresponsive-cationic-polymer-modified beads for therapeutic drug monitoring

August 16, 2022

Title

Chromatography columns packed with thermoresponsive-cationic-polymer-modified beads for therapeutic drug monitoring

Author

Kenichi Nagase, Hikaru Takagi, Hideo Nakada, Haruki Ishikawa, Yoshiko Nagata, Tohru Aomori & Hideko Kanazawa

Year

2022

Journal

Scientific reports

Abstract

Intimately connected to the rule of life, chirality remains a long-time fascination in biology, chemistry, physics and materials science. Chiral structures, e.g., nucleic acid and cholesteric phase developed from chiral molecules are common in nature and synthetic soft materials. While it was recently discovered that achiral but bent-core mesogens can also form chiral helices, the assembly of chiral microstructures from achiral polymers has rarely been explored. Here, we reveal chiral emergence from achiral conjugated polymers, in which hierarchical helical structures are developed through a multistep assembly pathway. Upon increasing concentration beyond a threshold volume fraction, dispersed polymer nanofibers form lyotropic liquid crystalline (LC) mesophases with complex, chiral morphologies. Combining imaging, X-ray and spectroscopy techniques with molecular simulations, we demonstrate that this structural evolution arises from torsional polymer molecules which induce multiscale helical assembly, progressing from nano- to micron scale helical structures as the solution concentration increases. This study unveils a previously unknown complex state of matter for conjugated polymers that can pave way to a field of chiral (opto)electronics. We anticipate that hierarchical chiral helical structures can profoundly impact how conjugated polymers interact with light, transport charges, and transduce signals from biomolecular interactions and even give rise to properties unimagined before.

Instrument

FT/IR-4700

Keywords

therapeutic monitoring, clinical