Advance in the Polymerization Strategy for the Synthesis of -Peptides and -Peptoids

Peptide mimics, possessing excellent biocompatibility and protease stability, have attracted broad attention and research in the biomedical field. beta-Peptides and beta-peptoids, as two types of vital peptide mimics, have demonstrated great potential in the field of foldamers, antimicrobials and protein binding, etc. Currently, the main synthetic strategies for beta-peptides and beta-peptoids include solid-phase synthesis and polymerization. Among them, polymerization in one-pot can minimize the repeated separation and purification used in solid-phase synthesis, and has the advantages of high efficiency and low cost, and can synthesize beta-peptides and beta-peptoids with high molecular weight. This review summarizes the polymerization methods for beta-peptides and beta-peptoids. Moreover, future developments of the polymerization method for the synthesis of beta-peptides and beta-peptoicis will be discussed.