Spindle-like and telophase-like self-assemblies mediated by complementary nucleobase molecular recognition

Abstract

Inspired by nature, supramolecular nanoparticles based on complementary nucleobase interactions have aroused wide interest. In our study, two kinds of fluorophores were conjugated at the end of nucleobase containing homopolymers, which can be used to confirm the binding state and calculate the binding constants among different nucleobase pairs. Furthermore, we describe a facile synthesis of nucleobase-functionalized amphiphilic polymers with rigid and flexible backbones using RAFT polymerization. Spindle-like or telophase-like supramolecular self-assemblies were formed by different components of such synthetic amphiphilic polymers.