1. Accessing Improbable Foldamer Shapes with Strained Macrocycles
- Author
-
Masatoshi Kawahata, Aya Tanatani, Vojislava Pophristic, Yann Ferrand, Kosuke Katagiri, Ko Urushibara, Ryan D'Elia, Ivan Huc, Zhiwei Liu, Estelle Morvan, Chimie et Biologie des Membranes et des Nanoobjets (CBMN), École Nationale d'Ingénieurs des Travaux Agricoles - Bordeaux (ENITAB)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ochanomizu University, Konan University [Kobe, Japan], Showa Pharmaceutical University, Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie (IECB), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
- Subjects
Models, Molecular ,Molecular Conformation ,Hot Paper ,Random hexamer ,Alkylation ,010402 general chemistry ,Crystallography, X-Ray ,01 natural sciences ,Catalysis ,Molecular dynamics ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,foldamer ,Amide ,cis amide ,Full Paper ,010405 organic chemistry ,fluxionality ,Organic Chemistry ,Foldamer ,General Chemistry ,Full Papers ,strained structures ,Amides ,0104 chemical sciences ,Folding (chemistry) ,Crystallography ,[CHIM.POLY]Chemical Sciences/Polymers ,Monomer ,chemistry ,Cyclization ,Helix ,macrocycle - Abstract
The alkylation of some secondary amide functions with a dimethoxybenzyl (DMB) group in oligomers of 8‐amino‐2‐quinolinecarboxylic acid destabilizes the otherwise favored helical conformations, and allows for cyclization to take place. A cyclic hexamer and a cyclic heptamer were produced in this manner. After DMB removal, X‐ray crystallography and NMR show that the macrocycles adopt strained conformations that would be improbable in noncyclic species. The high helix folding propensity of the main chain is partly expressed in these conformations, but it remains frustrated by macrocyclization. Despite being homomeric, the macrocycles possess inequivalent monomer units. Experimental and computational studies highlight specific fluxional pathways within these structures. Extensive simulated annealing molecular dynamics allow for the prediction of the conformations for larger macrocycles with up to sixteen monomers., Frustrating folding propensity by imposing a macrocyclic structure to an otherwise helical backbone produces improbable yet stable strained molecular shapes. Both experiments and computational studies show how aromatic oligoamide foldamers constrained within a macrocycle try to fulfill their strong propensity to adopt helical conformations by forming local loops and unfolded sites that connect helical segments. Defined fluxional conformational pathways can be evidenced in such molecules.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF