Sequence-Defined Synthetic Polymers for New-Generation Functional Biomaterials

Synthetic polymers have been extensively exploited for biomedical and pharmacological applications, spanning from surgical devices, diagnostics, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, to drug delivery systems. However, a fundamental and quantitative correlation between the primary chemical structures of polymeric biomaterials and the resulting biological responses remains elusive. Encouragingly, the advent and development of sequence-defined polymers (SDPs) provide an unprecedented opportunity to precisely tune their sequence information, intrachain folding, interchain self-assembly, and macroscopic properties, enabling the elucidation of the structure–property relationship of biomaterials. In this Perspective, we highlight recent advances of SDPs as next-generation functional biomaterials, and their potential applications in antimicrobial agents, bioactive ligands, precision drug delivery systems, bioimaging agents, and barcoded biomaterials, from sequence-defined synthetic oligomers and polymers. Finally, we present a critical outlook on the challenges in the design and development of SDP-based emergent biomaterials.