Crosslinking reactions occurring at physiological conditions based on the bioinspired cyanobenzothiazole (CBT)/cysteine ligation

• Applicant: Dr. Julieta Paez
• Subject Area: Polymer Materials ; Biomaterials
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 422041745

Crosslinked polymeric materials represent an enormous global market encompassing coatings, adhesives or hydrogel products, among many others. With an increasing interest in environmentally friendly conditions for covalent polymer curing and additive technologies for flexible and rapid processing; the need for effective crosslinking reactions in water inspires current scientific and industrial research. Such reactions should fulfill a number of criteria: develop under mild conditions (in water as solvent, at moderate temperature, without catalysts) with high efficiency and selectivity, be chemically orthogonal to conventional polymerization reactions for uncomplicated integration to existing technologies; and offer the possibility of on-demand and temporal control. This project proposes a bioinspired novel crosslinking reaction that meets all requirements previously identified. It works effectively under physiological conditions, it is based on the non-costly natural amino acid cysteine, and its onset can be triggered by simple pH change. The research proposed here will explore precursors, synthesis pathways and reaction conditions to make this chemistry attractive also at technological level, particularly for the production of coatings, adhesives and hydrogels, by providing a new chemistry for crosslinking that presents low environmental impact and cost-effectiveness.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands