Self-assembly of tripeptides into γ-turn nanostructures.

Self-assembling phenylalanine-based peptides have garnered interest owing to their potential for creating new functional materials. Here, we designed four diastereomers, l-Phe-l-Phe-l-Phe (FFF), d-Phe-l-Phe-l-Phe (fFF), l-Phe-d-Phe-l-Phe (FfF) and l-Phe-l-Phe-d-Phe (FFf), to analyze the effect of the d-isomer on the self-assembly. Using SEM, TG, VCD, and solid-state NMR measurements, we found that only FFf forms a γ-turn conformation and self-assembles into a nanoplate with higher thermal stability.