Palladium catalyzed reactions executed on solid-phase peptide synthesis supports for the production of self-assembling peptides embedded with complex organic electronic subunits
Methods to synthesize self-assembling peptides embedded with complex organic electronic subunits are provided.
1. A peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structure, wherein the first arene Ar 1 and the second arene Ar 2 can be the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of thiophenyl, bithiophenyl, phenyl, and 1,4-diethynylphenyl, and wherein the peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structure is selected from the group consisting of:
2. The peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structure of claim 1 , wherein one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures have a property of self assembly into a defined nanostructure when combined with identical or different one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures under aqueous or physiological conditions.
3. A defined nanostructure comprising one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures of claim 1 .
4. The defined nanostructure of claim 3 , wherein the nanostructure has at least one sub-10 nm dimension.
5. The defined nanostructure of claim 3 , wherein the defined nanostructure comprises π-stacked electronic conduits comprising one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures.
6. The defined nanostructure of claim 3 , wherein the defined nanostructure has a property selected from the group consisting of an electronic property and an optoelectronic property.
7. The defined nanostructure of claim 3 , wherein the defined nanostructure has a tunable property selected from the group consisting of variable surface charging, wettability, and surface packing.
8. The defined nanostructure of claim 7 , wherein the surface packing is based on charge injection-redox.
9. The defined nanostructure of claim 8 , wherein the charge injection-redox is mediated by an external electrical source or by incident light.
10. A biosensing or imaging agent comprising one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures of claim 1 .
11. The biosensing or imaging agent of claim 10 , wherein the biosensing or imaging agent detects an interaction between the agent and a biological material.
12. The biosensing or imaging agent of claim 11 , wherein the interaction between the agent and the biological material perturbs one or more measurable optoelectronic properties of the one or more peptide-[(Ar 1 —Ar 2 —Ar 1 )]-peptide structures.