Kilbinger Group and Salentinig Group have recently published an article in collaboration, in the Journal of American Chemical Society/ JACS entitled, "Solvent Dependent Folding of an Amphiphilic Polyaramid". 

for more information and to read the article: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.3c11026

Abstract

A series of synthetic alternating and amphiphilic aromatic amide polymers were synthesized by a step growth polymerization. Alternating meta- and para-linkages were introduced to force the polymer chain into a helical shape in the highly polar solvent water. The polymers were analyzed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and SEC in polar aprotic solvents such as DMSO and DMF. However, the polymers also showed good solubility in water. ¹H NMR spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and dynamic light scattering provided clear evidence of polymer folding in water but not DMF. We employed parallel tempering metadynamics in the well-tempered ensemble (PTMetaD-WTE) to simulate the free energy surfaces of an analogous model polymer in DMF and water. The simulations gave a molecular model of an unfolded structure in DMF and a helically folded tubular structure in water.