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Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Macromolecular Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 14512

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Maksymilian Chruszcz

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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA
Interests: protein chemistry; structural biology; X-ray crystallography; allergy; agricultural pests; enzymes; proteomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Molecules is dedicated to recent advances in polymer chemistry and mainly comprises a selection of exclusive papers by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section. While contributions from other authors will also be considered, this issue focuses primarily on highlighting recent interesting investigations conducted in the laboratories of our section’s EBMs, providing an attractive open-access publishing platform for polymer and macromolecular chemistry research data.

Prof. Dr. Maksymilian Chruszcz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

polymers
biomaterials
polymer characterization
biomimetic materials
functional polymers

Related Special Issue

Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules 2021 in Molecules (9 articles)

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3551 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancement of Cell Behavior by the Polysaccharide Extract of Arthrospira and Potential Biomedical Applications

by Junpeng Xu and Shan-hui Hsu

Molecules 2023, 28(2), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28020732 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2255

Abstract

Arthrospira is one of the most studied cyanobacteria and has been reported with practical applications. Among the substances derived from Arthrospira, polysaccharides have received relatively less attention than phycocyanins, though they have more abundant structural variations and specific properties. Herein, a new Arthrospira-derived sulfated polysaccharide was explored for its potential bioactive functions. The ability of this sulfated polysaccharide to promote the behavior of neural stem cells (NSCs) in three-dimensional hydrogel was examined for the first time. NSCs encapsulated in the sulfated polysaccharide-containing hydrogel showed better proliferation than the control hydrogel as well as a unique cell clustering behavior, i.e., formation of multicellular spherical clusters (40–60 μm). The sulfated polysaccharide, in an appropriate range of concentration (5 mg/mL), also maintained the stemness of NSCs in hydrogel and facilitated their differentiation. In addition, the potentials of the new sulfated polysaccharide as a coating material and as a component for drug carrier were verified. The sulfated polysaccharide-modified substrate exhibited superhydrophilicity (contact angle ~9°) and promoted cell adhesion to the substrate. Composite nanoparticles composed of the sulfated polysaccharide and other differently charged polysaccharides were produced with an average diameter of ~240 nm and estimated drug loading of ~18%. The new Arthrospira-derived sulfated polysaccharide is a promising candidate for cell culture, surface-modification, and drug-delivery applications in the biomedical field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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14 pages, 5027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thiophenium Salts as New Oxidant for Redox Polymerization under Mild- and Low-Toxicity Conditions

by Alexis Barrat, Frédéric Simon, Jérôme Mazajczyk, Bruno Charriere, Stéphane Fouquay and Jacques Lalevee

Molecules 2023, 28(2), 627; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28020627 - 7 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1331

Abstract

In mild conditions (under air, room temperature, no monomer purification and without any energy activation), redox free radical polymerization (RFRP) is considered as one of the most effective methods to polymerize (meth)acrylate monomers. In the past several years, there has been a growing interest in research on the development of new redox initiating systems (RISs), thanks mainly to the evolution of toxicity labeling and the stability issue of the current RIS based on peroxide and aromatic amine. In this study, a new, low-toxicity RIS based on thiophenium salt as the oxidant species is presented with various reductive species. The reactivity and the stability of the proposed RISs are investigated and the synthesis of new thiophenium salts reported. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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8 pages, 2014 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Viscoelastic Properties of Water-Absorbed Poly(methyl methacrylate) Doped with Lithium Salts with Various Anions

by Asae Ito, Arisa Shin and Koh-hei Nitta

Molecules 2022, 27(20), 7114; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27207114 - 21 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1125

Abstract

We investigated the effects of water absorption on the dynamic mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with various generic lithium salts, such as lithium perchlorate trihydrate (LiClO₄), lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (LiCF₃SO₃), lithium nonafluorobutanesulfonate (LiC₄F₉SO₃), and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiN(CF₃SO₂)). The rates of weight change during water absorption of lithium salt-doped samples were higher in the following order: LiClO₄, LiCF₃SO₃, LiC₄F₉SO₃, and LiN(CF₃SO₂). Interestingly, the aforementioned order was the same as the order of the terminal relaxation times in the flow region of the viscoelastic measurement in the melting-state. This implies that the water absorption of the salt-doped PMMA occurs due to the factors that affect the pinning of the PMMA molecular chains in the places. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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8 pages, 1572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Water-Soluble Leggero Pillar[5]arene

by Jia-Rui Wu, Gengxin Wu, Zhi Cai, Dongxia Li, Meng-Hao Li, Yan Wang and Ying-Wei Yang

Molecules 2022, 27(19), 6259; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27196259 - 23 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2456

Abstract

The study of aqueous-phase molecular recognition of artificial receptors is one of the frontiers in supramolecular chemistry since most biochemical processes and reactions take place in an aqueous medium and heavily rely on it. In this work, a water-soluble version of leggero pillar[5]arene bearing eight positively charged pyridinium moieties (CWP[5]L) was designed and synthesized, which exhibited good binding affinities with certain aliphatic sulfonate species in aqueous solutions. Significantly, control experiments demonstrate that the guest binding performance of CWP[5]L is superior to its counterpart water-soluble macrocyclic receptor in traditional pillararenes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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11 pages, 2349 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Fluorescent Linear Conjugated Polymer Constructed from Pillararene and Anthracene

by Dinghui Wang, Jun Wang, Yan Wang and Yingwei Yang

Molecules 2022, 27(10), 3162; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27103162 - 15 May 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2519

Abstract

Over the past few years, conjugated polymers (CPs) have aroused much attention owing to their rigid conjugated structures, which can perform well in light harvesting and energy transfer and offer great potential in materials chemistry. In this article, we fabricate a new luminescent linear CP p(P[5](OTf)₂-co-9,10-dea) via the Sonogashira coupling of 9,10-diethynylanthracene and trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride (OTf) modified pillar[5]arene, generating enhanced yellow-green fluorescence emission at around 552 nm. The reaction condition was screened to get a deeper understanding of this polymerization approach, resulting in an excellent yield as high as 92% ultimately. Besides the optical properties, self-assembly behaviors of the CP in low/high concentrations were studied, where interesting adjustable morphologies from tube to sheet were observed. In addition, the fluorescence performance and structural architecture can be disturbed by the host–guest reorganization between the host CP and the guest adiponitrile, suggesting great potential of this CP material in the field of sensing and detection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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14 pages, 4036 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Ampicillin-Loaded Nanoparticles Based on Poly(maleic acid-co-vinylpyrrolidone) on Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains

by Constain H. Salamanca, Álvaro Barrera-Ocampo and Jose Oñate-Garzón

Molecules 2022, 27(9), 2943; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27092943 - 5 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1640

Abstract

This study was focused on synthesizing, characterizing, and evaluating the antimicrobial effect of polymer nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with ampicillin. For this, the NPs were produced through polymeric self-assembly in aqueous media assisted by high-intensity sonication, using anionic polymers corresponding to the sodium salts of poly(maleic acid-co-vinylpyrrolidone) and poly(maleic acid-co-vinylpyrrolidone) modified with decyl-amine, here named as PMA-VP and PMA-VP-N10, respectively. The polymeric NPs were analyzed and characterized through the formation of polymeric pseudo-phases utilizing pyrene as fluorescent probe, as well as by measurements of particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, and encapsulation efficiency. The antimicrobial effect was evaluated by means of the broth microdilution method employing ampicillin sensitive and resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. The results showed that PMA-VP and PMA-VP-N10 polymers can self-assemble, forming several types of hydrophobic pseudo-phases with respect to the medium pH and polymer concentration. Likewise, the results described that zeta potential, particle size, polydispersity index, and encapsulation efficiency are extremely dependent on the medium pH, whereas the antimicrobial activity displayed an interesting recovery of antibiotic activity when ampicillin is loaded in the polymeric NPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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13 pages, 2662 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cyclodextrins Initiated Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactide Using 4-Dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as Catalyst: Study of DMAP/β-CD Inclusion Complex and Access to New Structures

by Julie Meimoun, Yupin Phuphuak, Remi Miyamachi, Yong Miao, Marc Bria, Cyril Rousseau, Guilherme Nogueira, Andreia Valente, Audrey Favrelle-Huret and Philippe Zinck

Molecules 2022, 27(3), 1083; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27031083 - 6 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2496

Abstract

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides used in many fields. Grafting polymers onto CDs enables new structures and applications to be obtained. Polylactide (PLA) is a biobased, biocompatible aliphatic polyester that can be grafted onto CDs by -OH-initiated ring-opening polymerization. Using 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as an organocatalyst, a quantitative functionalization is reached on native α-, β-, γ- and 2,3-dimethyl- β-cyclodextrins. Narrow molecular weight distributions are obtained with the native CDs (dispersity < 1.1). The DMAP/β-CD combination is used as a case study, and the formation of an inclusion complex (1/1) is shown for the first time in the literature, which is fully characterized by NMR. The inclusion of DMAP into the cavity occurs via the secondary rim of the β-CD and the association constant (K_a) is estimated to be 88.2 M⁻¹. Its use as an initiator for ring-opening polymerization leads to a partial functionalization efficiency, and thus a more hydrophilic β-CD-PLA conjugate than that obtained starting from native β-CD. Polymerization results including also the use of the adamantane/β-CD inclusion complex as an initiator suggest that inclusion of the DMAP catalyst into the CD may not occur during polymerization reactions. Rac-lactide does not form an inclusion complex with β-CD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exclusive Contributions by the Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of the Macromolecular Chemistry Section of Molecules-3rd Edition)

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