Fikri E. Alemdaroglu

Generation of Multiblock Copolymers by PCR: Synthesis, Visualization and Nanomechanical Properties

PCR was successfully implemented into polymer chemistry to produce linear multiblock structures up to pentablock architectures. Salient features of the generated DNA polymer hybrids were the ultrahigh molecular weights and their structural accuracy. Besides pushing the limits in block copolymer synthesis. a highly sophisticated characterization of the DNA/synthetic polymer hybrids was carried out by scanning force microscopy (SFM). Direct visualization revealed single polymer chains with the expected contour lengths for the DNA blocks and a characteristic kink at the central organic polymer unit bridging them. Furthermore, DNA triblock copolymers were manipulated by SFM, which so far has only been demonstrated for neat DNA and dendronized polymers. Upon blowing circular topologies, the DNA and the organic polymer chain have been extended and the contours of the three blocks could thereby be imaged separately.

Synthesis of DNA block copolymers with extended nucleic acid segments by enzymatic ligation: cut and paste large hybrid architectures

Ultra-high molecular weight DNA/polymer hybrid materials were prepared employing molecular biology techniques. Nucleic acid restriction and ligation enzymes were used to generate linear DNA di- and triblock copolymers that contain up to thousands of base pairs in the DNA segments.