Unilever Patent Holdings B.v.

David C Sherrington

Kevin Hammond

Alfred R Elmes

Philip W Small

A substrate comprises a porous polymeric material having a porosity of at least 75% and comprising pores having a diameter within the range 1 to 100 .mu.m and being interconnected by a plurality of holes, and a gel or material adapted in use to form a gel which gel or pre-gel materials is contained and retained within the pores of the polymeric material and is adapted in use to interact with a reactive species and can be made by depositing and retaining the gel or a material adapted in use to form the gel within the pores of the porous polymeric material. The high porosity of the porous polymeric material in combination with the retention of the gel within the pores permit high loading capacities, particularly in the area of peptide synthesis to be achieved. The substrate can be employed in chemical synthesis, chromatography techniques, ion exchange and separation techniques.

Method for using substrate in peptide syntheses

A porous polymeric material has cell sizes within the range 100 to 0.5 .mu.m and total pore volume with respect to the overall volume of the material in the range 75 to 98% and includes cross-linked polycondensation polymeric material. The material can be made from a high internal phase emulsion in which the cross-linked polycondensation polymer is formed in the continuous phase. The materials are preferably open interconnected cellular structures. They can be made of a wide range of polycondensation materials. The materials are thus highly porous and light weight and have a range of properties depending primarily on their constituent polycondensation materials.

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Kirkintilloch, United Kingdom

David C Sherrington