Journal Article

Applying Metallo‐Organic Ligand Design Principles to the Stereoselective Synthesis of a Peptide‐Based Pd2L4X4 Cage

Mardiana, Lina, Clark, Ewan R., Hall, Michael J., Waddell, Paul G., Palma, Aniello, Fleming, Patricia C., Samanta, Kushal, Fantuzzi, Felipe, Brightwell, Dominic F., Muldoon, Jimmy, Ortin, Yannick

2025

Overview

The rational and controlled synthesis of metallo‐organic cages using polyaromatic ligands is well established in the literature. There is a strong interest to advance this field towards the use of chiral ligands capable of yielding cages in a stereoselective manner. Herein, we demonstrate that the classical approach for designing metallo‐organic cages can be translated to polyproline peptides, a biocompatible class of chiral ligands. We have successfully designed a series of polyprolines, which mimic the topology of ditopic polyaromatic ligands, to achieve the stereoselective synthesis of a novel Pd lantern cage. This cage exhibits excellent stability in water and demonstrates the stabilization of a highly reactive species in solution. This work will pave the way towards the stereospecific synthesis of more complex, functionalized peptide‐based metallo‐cages. The design principles used for the synthesis of classical metallo‐organic ligands have been successfully translated to polyproline peptides, a biocompatible class of chiral ligands. These peptide‐based ditopic ligands have been successfully used to stereoselectively synthesize a novel Pd lantern cage, which exhibits excellent stability in water and demonstrates the stabilization of a highly reactive species in solution.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley-VCH
• Subject: host-guest systems / Ligands / peptide-based metallo-cages / peptide-based supramolecular chemistry / Peptides / polyproline / supramolecular chemistry