Multidentate Comb-Shaped Polypeptides Bearing Trithiocarbonate Functionality: Synthesis and Application for Water-Soluble Quantum Dots.

We describe here the synthesis of multidentate comb-shaped polypeptides bearing trithiocarbonate functionality and their application in the preparation of water-soluble quantum dots (QDs). A new l-lysine-based N-carboxyanhydride monomer containing trithiocarbonate functionality was designed and synthesized. Ring-opening polymerization of the resulting monomer initiated by hexamethyldisilazane affords polypeptides bearing pendent trithiocarbonate groups (P(TTCLys)) with controllable molecular weights. P(TTCLys) was then applied to mediate the reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization of oligo(ethylene glycol)acrylate for the metal-free preparation of hydrophilic comb-shaped polypeptides. Simple reduction of trithiocarbonate functionality enabled the introduction of multiple thiol anchoring groups to the above-mentioned comb-shaped polypeptides. Finally, the obtained multidentate polypeptide-based ligands were successfully applied in the ligand exchange procedures to generate water-soluble QDs. The fluorescent microscopic images suggested that the resultant water-soluble QDs could be effectively internalized into HeLa cells to realize bright cellular imaging. Therefore, our work can result in a new kind of valuable polypeptide-based QDs with hydrophilic character and biocompatibility for cellular imaging.