Polypeptides: Controlled Polymerization Chemistry, Properties and
Applications
　  Synthetic polypeptides are a class of emerging biomaterials receiving increasing interest
in various applications including drug and gene delivery, antimicrobial and tissue
engineering. They are usually prepared through the ring-opening polymerizations (ROP)
of -amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs). Although several controlled NCA
polymerization methods have been reported over the last 15 years, the drawbacks of those
methods are also obvious, including the use of heavy metal catalysts, low polymerization
activity and the demanding requirement of monomer purity. Addressing these issues, we
developed a controlled NCA ROP method utilizing organo-silicon amines, namely
hexamethyldisilazane and N-trimethylsilyl amines, as the initiators. Homo- and blockpolypeptides
with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight
distributions can be readily prepared via this methodology. Mechanistic studies showed
that the chain propagation involves a terminal trimethylsilyl carbamate structure. This
organosilicon agent mediated polymerization method allows for facile end group control
of the resulting polypeptides. It can also be readily integrated with other polymerization
techniques, such as ring-opening metathesis polymerization, to prepare brush-like hybrid
polymers, which have shown interesting self-assembly properties. By tailoring the
structures of the polypeptides, we also successfully developed polypeptides that allow
efficient in vitro gene delivery.

Lu, Hua (吕华)

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States
Phone: 1-217-819-9017; Email: hualu2@illinois.edu

Education and Training
09/2002 - 07/2006 B.S., College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University.
08/2006 - present Ph.D. (expected in 2011). Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign

Research Experiences
09/2002 - 05/2005 Synthesize conjugated organic and polymeric materials for the application of
organic LED and FETs as an undergraduate research assistant under the
supervision of Professor Jian Pei, Peking University
06/2005 - 05/2006 Study novel magnetic metal-organic framework materials presenting spin
crossover property for graduation thesis under the supervision of Professor
Song Gao, Peking University
09/2006 - present Develop synthetic polypeptides materials for drug delivery and gene delivery
applications under the supervision of Professor Jianjun Cheng

Awards and Honors
2002 Gold Medal of 34th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)
2002 Excellent Freshman Scholarship of Peking University
2002-2006 Mingde Fellowship (4 years), Peking University
2005 President's Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Peking University
2009 As one of the eighteen graduate students in US selected (based on merit) by
the Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium, ACS, San
Francisco, March, 2010.
2010-2011 Yee Memorial Fellowship from College of Engineering at UIUC

Publications
[1] Hua Lu, et al., "Ionic Polypeptides with Unusual Helical Stability", 2010, submitted
[2] Hua Lu, et al., "Towards Functional Synthetic Polypeptides", 2010, submitted
[3] Hua Lu, et al., " Interrupted Helical Structure of Grafted-Polypeptides in Brush-like
Macromolecules”, 2010, submitted
[4] Hua Lu et al., "A Reactive Cationic alpha-Helical Polypeptide Template for Non-Viral Gene
Delivery", 2010, Manuscript in preparation.
[5] Hua Lu et al., “Supramolecular Polymerization from Polypeptide-Grafted Comb Polymers”,
2010,Manuscript in preparation.
[6] Hua Lu, Jing Wang, Yao Lin,* and Jianjun Cheng*, “One-Pot Synthesis of Brush-Like Polymers
via Integrated Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization and Polymerization of Amino Acid
N-Carboxyanhydrides”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 13582-13583. Highlighted by Chemical
and Engineering News, issue of Sept. 14, 2009.
[7] Hua Lu and Jianjun Cheng*, “N-Trimethylsilyl amines for controlled ring-opening polymerization of
amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides and facile end group functionalization of polypeptides”, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 12562-12563
[8] Hua Lu and Jianjun Cheng*, “Hexamethyldisilazane-Mediated Controlled Polymerization of
alpha-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrideshydrides”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 14115-14116
[9] Xiaoyu Cao, Hong Zi, Wei Zhang, Hua Lu, and Jian Pei*, “Star-shaped and Linear Nanosized
Molecules Functionalized with Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene: Synthesis and Optical Properties” J.
Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 3645-3653
[10] Xiaoyu Cao, Hong Zi, Hua Lu and Jian Pei*, “Novel Efficient Blue Light-Emitting Conjugated
Polymers: Synthesis, Optical Properties and Thermal Optical Stability”, SPIE Proc. 2005, 5632,
7-16
[11] Xiaoyu Cao, Wenbin Zhang, Jinliang Wang, Xinhua Zhou, Hua Lu, and Jian Pei*, “Extended
–Conjugated Dendrimers Based on Truxene” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 12430-12431

Poster and Presentations
August 2007 Poster, ACS National Meeting, Boston
August 2009 Oral presentation, ACS National Meeting, Washington, D.C.
March 2010 Oral presentation, ACS National Meeting, San Francisco
Teaching, Outreach and Service
July 2007 Lab demonstration for UIUC’s Discover Engineering program
2007 Teaching Assistant of course Design and Use of Biomaterials
2009 Grader and lab demonstration of course Biomaterials and Nanomedicine
2009 Session Presider for Symposium “Nanoscience in Polymer Chemistry”, Division
of Polymer Chemistry, ACS National Meeting, Washington, D.C., Aug. 19, 2009