Structure and Properties of Poly(Amino Acid) Solids

Abstract

There has been a great deal of investigations on relationship between structure and properties in the solid state of various polymers. Among these the synthetic poly(amino acid) has been attracting a growing attention because of their unique rigid conformation of the backbone chain. It has been well established that for a number of poly(amino acid)s amide groups of the backbone chain are hydrogen-bonded intramolecularly to form the α-helical conformation[1], in which more or less flexible side chains surround the helix. Thus, poly(amino acid) seems to consist of two parts: the rigid α-helical backbone and the more or less flexible side chain[2]. It is of interest to know how structural characteristics of poly(amino acid) are related to the solid state properties.