Résumé
Synthesis of well-defined polymers for reaction with proteins has attracted a growing interest for applications in biotechnology. The strong affinity between avidin and biotin (K d = 10 -15 M) is used in protein recognition and models for bioavailability tests. 1 Polymers with biotin end-groups have been synthesised via controlled radical polymerization techniques with either Biotin-functional initiators 2 or post-functionalization techniques. 3 Transition Metal Mediated Living Radical Polymerization (TMM LRP, often termed ATRP) is an efficient way to prepare polymers with well-defined compositions and architectures (linear, graft, star polymers) 4, 5 'Click' chemistry is a term which describes a range of powerful chemical transformations that involves benign reaction condition and simple workup. 6 The Cu I -catalyzed version of the Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides on alkynes being a powerful example: easy availability of starting materials, very high conversion and complete regioselectivity. 7 This current work describes the combined use of TMM LRP and click chemistry to synthesize Biotin terminally functional star polymers with targeted molecular weights and low PDI.