Metal chelates anchored to poly-L-peptides and linear D,L-α-peptides with promising nanotechnological applications.

Regular configurationally alternating amino acid sequences generate cyclic and linear helical peptides with a local β-conformation able to self-assemble in nanowires and nanoscaffolds directed and stabilized by hydrogen bonds. The possibility of modulating the chemical profile of the various amino acid residues containing reactive side chains means that peptides could be flexible templates for creating various building blocks. A method for the design of molecules with potential spintronic properties is described. Peptides containing lysine residues, the side chains of which are bridged through the formation of metal chelates via Schiff bases, could provide stable molecular channels. When metal chelates with high electron spin states are used, their coupling could generate materials that are interesting due to their magnetic properties as well as for the patterning of nanometric lattices driven by their orientation under a magnetic field. With this aim, three alternating D- and L-lysine-containing octapeptides are synthesized and the formation of their bis(pyridoxalaldimine) copper(II) chelate derivatives is shown by absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopies.