SPOCC:  A Resin for Solid-Phase Organic Chemistry and Enzymatic Reactions on Solid Phase

SPOCC resin 1, a novel, highly permeable, polar support for chemical and enzymatic solid-phase methods, is presented. The synthesis of SPOCC resin is based on the cross-linking of long-chain poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) terminally substituted with oxetane by cationic ring-opening polymerization, affording a polymer containing only primary ether and alcohol C−O bonds. The polymer was prepared using Et 2 O·BF 3 as initiator either via bulk polymerization in solution or via suspension polymerization in silicon oil, the latter yielding a beaded resin. The polymerization reaction was investigated with respect to the effects of PEG chain length, the fraction of bisoxetanylated PEG, initiator amount, and temperature in order to vary the swelling, loading, and mechanical stability of the resin. Furthermore, the resin was derivatized with various functional groups and subsequently applied to peptide synthesis and organic reactions in both organic solvents and water. An N-terminal peptide aldehyde was generated on the solid phase and employed to synthesize peptide isosteres by nucleophilic addition of various ylides. Solid-phase glycosylation of peptides and enzymatic reactions were successfully performed with SPOCC resin. Enzymatic proteolytic cleavage of a resin-bound decapeptide on treatment with the 27 kDa protease subtilisin BNP‘ demonstrated the accessibility of the interior of the SPOCC resin for enzymes.