Synthesis of well-defined cyclic glycopolymers and the relationship between their physical properties and their interaction with lectins

Cyclic polymers, which have a different topology from that of linear polymers, show potential as novel nanomaterials. In this communication, we report the synthesis of well-defined cyclic glycopolymers that have functional units for biomolecular recognition and evaluated their physical properties including molecular mobility. The suppressed molecular mobility of the cyclic glycopolymers was found to weaken their interactions with target proteins, demonstrating the influence of polymer topology on molecular recognition.