The design of structurally well-defined peptide motifs has been an active area of research aimed at generating models of biological systems, or to develop novel biomaterials. Peptide structural motifs such as a-helices and �-sheets have been designed de novousing non-proteinogenic amino acids. In this context, disubstituted ferrocenes are becoming popular scaffolds, which are known to induce turn-like structures that enable efficient hydrogen bonding interactions between peptide chains.Work in the Kraatz group focuses on the design of ferrocene-peptide derivatives for the structural mimicry of �-sheets and helices and on molecules that can recognize ions, small molecules, or even proteins. Here, a summary is presented of the synthesis and use of some ferrocene-peptide conjugates. Examples are discussed of their properties as gelators forming organogels that are responsive to external stimuli [1]. For example, ferrocenoyl-Val-Phe-Phe-OMe undergoes a redox and ultrasound directed self-assembly and displays a redox-controled reorganization between gel nanofibers and spherical micelles [2]. References . B. Adhikari, R. Afrasiabi, and H.-B. Kraatz, Organometallics 32  , 5899 (2013).B. Adhikari and H.-B. Kraatz, Chem. Commun. DOI: 10.1039/C3CC49268K

Ferrocene-peptide materials: Structure, self-assembly properties, and gelators

248th National Meeting (2014)

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