Next Generation Synthesis

Our research combines organic chemistry, automated flow synthesis, and chemical biology to study natural and artificial biopolymers. We aim to address fundamental synthetic challenges and apply biopolymers in a variety of contexts.

Sequence-defined polymers, including peptides and proteins, play crucial roles in every aspect of life. Their chemical synthesis allows for the incorporation of non-canonical amino acids, post-translational modifications, modified backbones and functional handles, but requires highly efficient transformations for the incorporation of every single building block.

Continuous-flow synthesis is gaining momentum due to the precise control over reaction parameters and the possibility for automated in-line analytical monitoring. We use flow chemistry to develop efficient reactions and synthesize non-natural building blocks for the production of sequence-defined polymers. We are interested in studying all components of the system - including the development of new technology and biological applications of the synthetic products.

Our goal is to ultimately provide tailored peptidic natural products, proteins and related functional polymers on demand.