Dynamic Covalent Assembly of Peptoid-Based Ladder Oligomers

Dynamic covalent chemistry, in conjunction with template-directed assembly, enables the fabrication of extended nanostructures that are both precise and tough. Here, we demonstrate the dynamic covalent assembly of peptoid-based molecular ladders with up to 12 rungs via scandium(III)-catalyzed imine metathesis by employing the principle of Vernier templating, where small precursor units with mismatched numbers of complementary functional groups are co-reacted to yield larger structures with sizes determined by the respective precursor functionalities. Owing to their monomer diversity and synthetic accessibility, sequence-specific oligopeptoids bearing dynamic covalent pendant groups were employed as precursors for molecular ladder fabrication.