(541a) Understanding and Controlling Properties of Biomimetic Polymers

Peptoids, or n-substitued glycines, are complex and diverse oligomeric structures which have been explored for a number of biomimetic applications including drug delivery, surfactants, and catalysts. In contrast to their peptide counterparts, on peptoids the sidechain is bonded to the backbone nitrogen resulting in a flexible omega backbone dihedral that is able to isomerize into both stable cis- and trans- backbone conformations. This unique feature of peptoids allows for these structures to potentially span a significantly larger configurational space of chemical and structural functionality through the careful tuning of their side chains. This vast chemical and structural space has created significant challenges for rational design of new structures and functions as the underlying molecular scale driving forces that give rise to sequence/structure/function relationships have proven difficult to uncover. This talk will highlight recent developments from our group in the use of statistical mechanical tools to accelerate molecular simulations of rare events like peptoid folding, aggregation and adsorption on inorganic surfaces.