Orderly Entangled Nanostructures of Metal-Peptide Strands

Construction of entangled nanostructures from molecular rings or strands has long attracted chemists, yet synthetic approaches for highly entangled nanostructures remain unexplored to date. Here, we introduce our recent achievements in construction of such nanostructures by utilization of metalpeptide strands. Our folding-and-assembly strategy, that is based on a cooperative processes of peptide self-folding and metal-induced self-assembly, has afforded unprecedented topological nanostructures through threading of multiple metalpeptide rings. Starting from the initial design of the system, we discuss remarkable examples such as polyhedral links, torus knots, and a poly[n]catenane, and state the perspectives in this account review.

Automated summary

This study presents the recent achievements in constructing entangled nanostructures using metalpeptide strands. The folding-and-assembly strategy based on peptide self-folding and metal-induced self-assembly has successfully created unprecedented topological nanostructures through threading multiple metalpeptide rings.