Asymmetric Peptide Nanoribbons

Asymmetry in chemical structure or shape at molecular, nanoscale, or microscopic levels is essential to a vast number of functionalities in both natural and artificial systems. Bottom-up approaches to create asymmetric supramolecular nanostructures are considered promising but this strategy suffers from the potentially dynamic nature of noncovalent interactions. We report here on supramolecular self-assembly of asymmetric peptide amphiphiles consisting of two different molecularly linked domains. We found that strong noncovalent interactions and a high degree of internal order among the asymmetric amphiphiles lead to nanoribbons with asymmetric faces due to the preferential self-association of the two domains. The capture of gold nanoparticles on only one face of the nanoribbons demonstrates symmetry breaking in these supramolecular structures.