From Virginia Tech

Polyacrylates with Protein Recognition and Functional Modulation

Gomez, D. C.; Seth, S.; Mondal, R.; Koehler, S. J.; Baker, J. G.; Plate, C.; Anderson, I. C.; Smith, M. R.; Gloriod, J.; Gunter, M.; Vaissier Welborn, V.;* Deshmukh, S. A.;* Figg, C. A.* ChemRxiv.

7. 33 Unresolved Questions in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Mirkin, C. A.;* Petrosko, S. A.; Artzi, N.; Aydin, K.; Biaggne, A.; Brinker, C. J.; Bujold, K. E.; Cao, Y. C.; Chan, R. R.; Chen, C.; Chen, P.-C.; Chen, X.; Chevalier, O. J. G. L.; Choi, C. H. J.; Crooks, R. M.; Dravid, V. P.; Du, J. S.; Ebrahimi, S. B.; Fan, H.; Farha, O. K.; Figg, C. A.; Fink, T. D.; Forsyth, C. M.; Fuchs, H.; Geiger, F. M.; Gianneschi, N. C.; Gibson, K. J.; Ginger, D. S.; Guo, S.; Hanes, J. S.; Hao, L.; Huang, J.; Hunter, B. M.; Huo, F.; Hwang, J.; Jin, R.; Kelley, S. O.; Kempa, T. J.; Kim, Y.; Kudruk, S.; Kumari, S.; Landy, K. M.; Lee, K.-B.; Leon, N. J.; Li, J.; Li, Y.; Li, Z.; Liu, B.; Liu, G.; Liu, X.; Liz-Marzán, L. M.; Lorch, J. H.; Luo, T.; Macfarlane, R. J.; Millstone, J. E.; Mrksich, M.; Murphy, C. J.; Naik, R. R.; Nel, A. E.; Oetheimer, C.; Hedlund Orbeck, J. K.; Park, S.-O.; Partridge, B. E.; Peppas, N. A.; Personick, M. L.; Raj, A.; Ramani, N.; Ross, M. B.; Ross, S. B.; Sargent, E. H.; Sengupta, T.; Schatz, G. C.; Seferos, D. S.; Seideman, T.; Seo, S. E.; Shen, B.; Shim, W.; Shin, D.; Simon, U.; Sinegra, A. J.; Smith, P. T.; Spokoyny, A. M.; Stang, P. J.; Stegh, A. H.; Stoddart, J. F.; Swearer, D. F.; Tan, W.; Teplensky, M. H.; Thaxton, C. S.; Walt, D. R.; Wang, M. X.; Wang, Z.; Wei, W. D.; Weiss, P. S.; Winegar, P. H.; Xia, Y.; Xie, Y.; Xu, X.; Yang, P.; Yang, Y.; Ye, Z.; Yoon, K. R.; Zhang, C.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, K.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Y.; Zheng, Z.; Zhou, W.; Zhu, S.; Zhu. W. ACS Nano 2025, doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5c12854

6.

Leveraging Reactivity to Gain Precise Control over Macromolecular Structures with Photocatalysis in Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerizations

Baker, J. G.; Gloriod, J.; Figg, C. A.* Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 15298-15309.

5. Reversing Blocking Order of Trithiocarbonate-Mediated RAFT Polymerizations using Photocatalysis

Baker, J. G.; Koehler, S. J.; Wood, K. J.; Troya, D.; Gloriod, J.; Anderson, I. C.; Gomez, D. C.; Figg, C. A.* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2025, e202509029.

4. Identification and Characterization of Substrate- and Product-Selective Nylon Hydrolases

Drufva, E.; Cahill, J. F.; Saint-Vincent, P.; Williams, A.; Bocharova, V.; Capra, N.; Meilleur, F.; Carper, D.; Bourgery, C.; Miyazaki, K; Yonemura, M.; Shiraishi, Y.; Parks, J.; Muchu, Z.; Dishner, I.; Foster, J.; Koehler, S.; Valentino, H.; Sedova, A.; Kertesz, V.; Vasileva, D.; Hochanadel, L.; Figg, C. A.; Negoro, S.; Kato, D.-I.; Chen, S. H.; Michener, J. K. Chem. Cat. 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.checat.2025.101418

3. Catalyzing PET-RAFT Polymerizations Using Inherently Photoactive Zinc Myoglobin

Anderson, I. C.; Gomez, D. C.; Zhang, M.; Koehler, S. J.; Figg, C. A.* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202414431.

2. Customizing STEM Organogels Using PET-RAFT Polymerization

Bowman, Z.;# Baker, J. G.;# Hughes, M.J.; Nguyen, J. D.; Garcia, M.; Tamrat, N.; Worch, J. C.; Figg, C. A.* Polym. Chem. 2024, 15, 3907-3915.

# These authors contributed equally

This manuscript resulted from the final project of Chem 4074 in Spring 2024. Contributing undergraduates from that class are underlined.

1. Installing A Single Monomer Within Acrylic Polymers Using Photoredox Catalysis

Baker, J. G.; Zhang, R.; Figg, C. A.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 106-111.

Prior To Virginia Tech

27. Leveraging Protein-Ligand and DNA Interactions to Control Hydrogel Mechanics

Ramani, N.; Hwang, J.; Anderson, A. J.; Delgado, J.; Hernández-López, L.; Figg, C. A.; Winegar, P. H.; Mirkin, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 17293-17302.

26. DNA-Regulated Multi-Protein Complement Control

Ma, Y.; Winegar, P. H.; Figg, C. A.; Ramani, N.; Anderson, A. J.; Ngo, K.; Ahrens, J. F.; Chellam, N. S.; Kim, Y. J.; Mirkin, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 32912-32918.

25. Spatially-Encoding Hydrogels With DNA to Control Cell Signaling

Ramani, N.; Figg, C. A.; Anderson, A. J.; Winegar, P. H.; Oh, E.; Ebrahimi, S. B.; Samanta, D. Mirkin, C. A. Adv. Mat. 2023, 35, 2301086.

24. Modular nucleic acid scaffolds for synthesizing monodisperse and sequence-encoded antibody oligomers

Winegar, P. H.;# Figg, C. A.;# Teplensky, M. H.; Ramani, N.; Mirkin, C. A. Chem 2022, 8, 2891. #equal contribution

23. Macromolecular Photocatalyst for Synthesis and Purification of Protein-Polymer Conjugates

Olson, R. A.; Levi, J. S.; Scheutz, G. M.; Lessard, J. J.; Figg, C. A.; Kamat, M. N.; Basso, K. B.; Sumerlin, B. S. Macromolecules. 2021, 54, 4880.

22. Self-Catalyzing Photoredox Polymerization for Recyclable Polymer Catalysts

Lessard, J. J.; Scheutz, G. M.; Korpusik, A. B.; Olson, R. A.; Figg, C. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 2205.

21. Controlling the DNA Hybridization Chain Reaction

Figg, C. A.; Winegar, P. H.; Hayes, O. G.; Mirkin, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 8596.

20. Ultra-High Molecular Weight Hydrophobic Acrylate and Styrenic Polymers through Organic-Phase Photoiniferter-Mediated Polymerization

Carmean, R. N.; Sims, M. B.; Figg, C. A.; Hurst, P. J.; Patterson, J. P.; Sumerlin, B. S. ACS Macro Lett. 2020, 9, 613.

19. Directing Protein Packing within Single Crystals using DNA

Winegar, P. H.; Hayes, O. G.; McMillan, J. R.; Figg, C. A.; Focia, P. J.; Mirkin, C. A. Chem 2020, 6, 1007.

18. Alternating Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization of Cyclic Ketene Acetals: Access to Tunable and Functional Polyester Copolymers

Hill, M. R.; Kubo, T.; Goodrich, S. L.; Figg, C. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. Macromolecules 2018, 51, 5079.

17. Crosslinking Aptamer-Lipid Micelles for Improving Stability and Specificity on Target Cell Recognition

Li, X.; Figg, C. A.; Wang, R.; Lyu, Y.; Jiang, Y.; Sun, H.; Liu, Y.; Cai, R.; Teng, I-T.; Wang, Y.; Hou, W.; Cui, C.; Li, L.; Pan, X.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Tan, W. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2018, 130, 11763.

16. Next Generation Polymer-Protein Conjugates

Russell, A. J.; Baker, S. L.; Colina, C. M.; Figg, C. A.; Kaar, J. L.; Matyjaszewski, K.; Simakova, A.; Sumerlin, B. S. AIChE J. 2018, 64, 3230.

15. Observing Morphology Evolution During Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly by Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

Touve, M. A.; Figg, C. A.; Wright, D. B.; Cantlon, J.; Park, C.; Sumerlin, B. S.; Gianneschi, N. G. ACS Cent. Sci 2018, 4, 543.

14. Color-Coding Visible Light Polymerizations to Elucidate the Activation of Trithiocarbonates Using Eosin Y

Figg, C. A.; Hickman, J. D.; Scheutz, G. M.; Shanmugam, S.; Carmean, R. N.; Tucker, B. S.; Boyer, C.; Sumerlin, B. S. Macromolecules 2018, 51, 1370.

13. Modular and Rapid Access to Amphiphilic Homopolymers via Successive Chemoselective Post-Polymerization Modifications

Kubo, T.; Bentz, K. C.; Powell, K. C.; Figg, C. A.; Swartz, J. L.; Tanksy, M.; Chauhan, A.; Savin, D. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. Polym. Chem. 2017, 8, 6028.

12. Radical Ring-Opening Copolymerization of Cyclic Ketene Acetals and Maleimides Affords Homogeneous Incorporation of Degradable Units

Hill, M. R.; Guégain, E.; Tran, J.; Figg, C. A.; Turner, A. C.; Nicolas, J.; Sumerlin, B. S. ACS Macro Lett. 2017, 6, 1071.

11. Grafting-From Proteins Using Metal-Free PET-RAFT Polymerizations Under Mild Visible Light Irradiation

Tucker, B. S.; Coughlin, M. L.; Figg, C. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. ACS Macro Lett. 2017, 6, 452.

10. Star Architecture Promoting Morphological Transitions during Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly

Wang, X.; Figg, C. A.; Lv, X.; Yang, Y.; Sumerlin, B. S.; An, Z. ACS Macro Lett. 2017, 6, 337.

9. Mild and Efficient Synthesis of ω,ω-Heterodifunctional Polymers and Polymer Bioconjugates

Figg, C. A.; Bartley, A. N.; Kubo, T.; Tucker, B. S.; Castellano, R. K.; Sumerlin, B. S. Polym. Chem. 2017, 8, 2457.

8. Catalyst-Free Photoinduced End-Group Removal of Thiocarbonylthio Functionality

Carmean, R. N.; Figg, C. A.; Scheutz, G.; Kubo, T.; Sumerlin, B. S. ACS Macro Lett. 2017, 6, 185.

7. Tuning Hydrophobicity to Program Block Copolymer Assemblies from the Inside Out

Figg, C. A.; Carmean, R. N.; Bentz, K. C.; Mukherjee, S.; Savin, D. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. Macromolecules 2017, 50, 935.

6. Closed-System One-Pot Block Copolymerization by Temperature-Modulated Monomer Segregation

Carmean, R. N.; Figg, C. A.; Becker, T. E.; Sumerlin, B. S. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 8624.

5. Multifunctional Homopolymers: Post-Polymerization Modification via Sequential Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution

Kubo, T.; Figg, C. A.; Swartz, J. L.; Brooks, W. L. A.; Sumerlin, B. S. Macromolecules 2016, 49, 2077.

4. Efficient and Chemoselective Synthesis of ω,ω-Heterodifunctional Polymers

Figg, C. A.; Kubo, T.; Sumerlin, B. S. ACS Macro Lett. 2015, 4, 1114.

3. Role of Polymer Architecture on the Activity of Polymer-Protein Conjugates for the Treatment of Accelerated Bone Loss Disorders

Tucker, B. S.; Stewart, J. D.; Aguirre, J. I.; Holliday, L. S.; Figg, C. A.; Messer, J. G.; Sumerlin, B. S. Biomacromolecules 2015, 16, 2374.

2. Polymerization-Induced Thermal Self-Assembly (PITSA)

Figg, C. A.; Simula, A.; Gebre, K.; Tucker, B. S.; Haddleton, D. M. Sumerlin, B. S. Chem. Sci. 2015, 6, 1230.

1. Rapid Microwave-Assisted Sol-Gel Preparation of Pd-Substituted LnFeO3 (Ln = Y, La): Phase Formation and Catalytic Activity

Misch, L. M.; Birkel, A.; Figg, C. A.; Fors, B. P.; Hawker, C. J.; Stucky, G. D.; Seshadri, R. Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 2079.