Understanding the Impact of Chemical Patterns On the Interactions and Self-Assembly of Organic Macromolecules at Interfaces

Although it is generally appreciated that the interactions of organic macromolecules depend strongly on the patterns of chemical functional groups presented at their surfaces, surprisingly few methods allow for precise manipulation of these chemical patterns. This presentation will describe an investigation of the interfacial interactions of organic molecules formed from non-natural ß-amino acids (ß-peptides). This class of molecule allows for precise manipulation of surface chemical patterns via sequence control during step-wise organic synthesis. By using single-molecule force spectroscopy, the impact of specific chemical patterns on forces generated between ß-peptide-based molecules presented at interfaces has been investigated. These measurements and others involving helical ß-peptides will be reported in this talk. Overall, the measurements provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms through which subtle changes in the patterns of chemical functional groups presented by organic macromolecules can be amplified into remarkably dramatic changes in their self-assembly.