Oligomeric Cholates: Amphiphilic Foldamers with Nanometer-Sized Hydrophilic Cavities
摘要:
The hydroxyl at the C-3 of cholic acid was converted to an amino group, and the resulting aminofunctionalized cholic acid was used as a monomer to prepare amide-linked oligomeric cholates. These cholate oligomers fold into helical structures with nanometer-sized hydrophilic internal cavities in solvent mixtures consisting of mostly nonpolar solvents such as carbon tetrachloride or ethyl acetate/hexane and 2-5% of a polar solvent such as methanol or DMSO. The conformations of the foldamers; were studied by UV, fluorescence, fluorescence quenching, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The nature of the polar/nonpolar solvents and their miscibility strongly influenced the folding reaction. Folding was cooperative, as evidenced by the sigmoidal curves in solvent denaturation experiments. The folded conformers became more stable with an increase in the chain length. The folding/unfolding equilibrium was highly sensitive toward the amount of polar solvent. One percent variation in the solvent composition could change the folding free energies by 0.5-1.4 kcal/mol.
Efficient Construction of Oligocholate Foldamers via “Click” Chemistry and Their Tolerance of Structural Heterogeneity
摘要:
The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between an alkynyl-terminated cholate trimer and an azido-functionalized cholate hexamer readily afforded the nonamer and dodecamer derivatives; whereas amide coupling employed in previous oligocholate synthesis failed beyond the octamer. Unlike typical oligocholate foldamers with exclusively head-to-tall arrangement of the repeat units, the newly synthesized "clicked" oligocholates contained head-to-head arrangement and flexible tethers in the sequence. Despite large structural perturbations, the clicked oligocholates folded similarly as the parent foldamers, demonstrating the robustness of the solvophobically driven folding mechanism.
Preferential Solvation within Hydrophilic Nanocavities and Its Effect on the Folding of Cholate Foldamers
作者:Yan Zhao、Zhenqi Zhong、Eui-Hyun Ryu
DOI:10.1021/ja0671159
日期:2007.1.1
microphase separation of the polarsolvent was critical to the folding process. Folding was favored by larger-sized polarsolventmolecules, as fewer such molecules could occupy and solvate the nanocavity, thus requiring a smaller extent of phase separation during folding. Folding was also favored by smaller/acyclic nonpolarsolventmolecules, probably because they could avoid contact with the OH/NH
Enhancing Binding Affinity by the Cooperativity between Host Conformation and Host–Guest Interactions
作者:Zhenqi Zhong、Xueshu Li、Yan Zhao
DOI:10.1021/ja203117g
日期:2011.6.15
Glutamate-functionalized oligocholate foldamers bound Zn(OAc)(2), guanidine, and even amine compounds with surprisingly high affinities. The conformational change of the hosts during binding was crucial to the enhanced binding affinity. The strongest cooperativity between the conformation and guest-binding occurred when the hosts were unfolded but near the folding-unfolding transition. These results suggest that high binding affinity in molecular recognition may be more easily obtained from large hosts capable of strong cooperative conformational changes instead of those with rigid, preorganized structures.