Rational design and application of a redox-active, photoresponsive, discrete metallogelator.

A photoresponsive discrete metallogelator was rationally designed by incorporating a photochromic azobenzene subunit in the structure of a redox-active ferrocene-peptide conjugate. The target molecule was purposefully equipped with a dipeptide unit capable of self-assembly in response to sonication. The designed molecule was shown to undergo supramolecular self-assembly and achieve organogelation in response to ultrasound, light, heat, and redox signals.

Impedance based detection of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 using a ferrocene-antimicrobial peptide modified biosensor.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 can cause life-threatening gastrointestinal diseases and has been a severe public health problem worldwide in recent years. A novel biosensor for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 is described here using a film composed of ferrocene-peptide conjugates, in which the antimicrobial peptide magainin I has been incorporated as the biorecognition element.

Small-peptide-based organogel kit: towards the development of multicomponent self-sorting organogels.

The results presented here highlight the extremely useful nature of ultra-short peptides as building blocks in the development of smart multicomponent supramolecular devices. A facile bottom-up strategy for the synthesis of a small library of stimuli-responsive smart organogelators has been proposed based on the predictive self-assembly of ultra-short peptides. More importantly, the narcissistic self-sorting of the gelators has been evaluated as a simple method for the efficient co-assembly of a donor-acceptor dual-component gel, allowing the investigation of possible future applications of similar systems in the development of a supramolecular photo-conversion device.

Sonication-induced coiled fibrous architectures of Boc-L-Phe-L-Lys(Z)-OMe.

An ultra-short peptide Boc-L-Phe-L-Lys(Z)-OMe (Z=carbobenzyloxy) was shown to act as a highly efficient and versatile low molecular weight gelator (LMWG) for a variety of aliphatic and aromatic solvents under sonication. Remarkably, this simple dipeptide is not only able to form coiled fibres but also demonstrates self-healing and thermal chiroptical switching behaviour. The formation of coiled assemblies was found to be influenced by the nature of the solvent and the presence of an additive.