Copper-guided tuning of supramolecular nano-assembly in pseudopeptide-based soft bioinspired materials

Abstract

Pseudopeptide-based soft bioinspired materials have recently emerged as state-of-the-art soft matter for recognition and supramolecular self-assembly. Therefore, we synthesized L-valine and L-phenylalanine-based C₂-symmetric pseudo-peptidic soft bioinspired materials for the selective and sensitive detection of Cu(II) ions in aqueous-organic media through the CHEQ mechanism. These pseudopeptides show 2 : 1 stoichiometry with Cu(II), with a high value of binding constant (K_a = 0.035 × 10⁵ M⁻¹, 0.02 × 10⁵ M⁻¹) and low detection (0.053 ppm and 0.0047 ppm), respectively, for 1 and 2. Also, the Cu(II) guided tuning of supramolecular nano-assembly is a promising field for material nano-architectonics applications.