Abstract
The ring opening polymerization (ROP) of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhybride (BLG-NCA) and Nε-trifluroactetyl-L-lysine N-carboxyanhybride (TFALys-NCA) by thiol was investigated at 0°C in DMF as solvent. The use of 2-(trimethylsilyl)-ethanethiol as initiator and its incorporation in the macromolecular chain showed the efficient ring opening polymerization of BLG-NCA by the so called “amine” mechanism. Thus, we proposed a novel synthetic pathway for the synthesis of diblock copolypeptides [poly(N,Ndiethylacrylamide)- b-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) and poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide)-bpoly( Nε-trifluoroacetyl-L-lysine)] using thiol based macroinitiator. This last was obtained by cleavage of a dithioester end group of poly(N,N-diethylacrylamide) synthesized by RAFT polymerization.