MFPFs · Metal-Foldamer Porous Frameworks

Metal-Foldamer Porous Frameworks

The design and precise construction of protein-inspired nanostructures through folding and metal-directed self-assembly is a challenging yet potentially rewarding endeavor for the development of new classes of functional materials. Peptides have been well established as flexible starting points for the construction of bioinspired architectures with a high level of sophistication and precise control over morphologies and functions. Concurrently, the power of metal coordination to drive assembly has been extensively explored to design functionally versatile metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The functional versatility resulting from this level of control has led to MOFs applications in diverse areas such as catalysis, gas capture, sensing, energy technologies, organelle specific drug delivery, and also as detoxification agents. Yet, the synthesis of such coordination networks by a process that would combine folding, self-assembly and metal coordination in aqueous media is still partially unaccomplished. Foldamers - artificial synthetic folded oligomers - possess the advantages of structural robustness and high programmability which bodes well for their use in the construction of well-defined higher-order nanostructures. The project has moved a step forward towards the design, synthesis and structural characterization of metal-foldamer porous frameworks with a focus on foldamer sequence evolution and metal variation to influence the main features of the assembly (shape and catalytic property in particular). This project successfully constructed metal-coordinated frameworks using foldamers as the organic ligand. The incorporation of metal centers enhanced mechanical properties and stability, setting these assemblies apart from previously reported foldamer assemblies. The resulting architectures exhibited diverse structures, offering unique functionalities. Preliminary results suggest that such metal-foldamer frameworks may exhibit catalytic ability in the hydrolysis of substrates, and their chemically modified versions were evaluated for on-demand functions. In particular, the frameworks were investigated for their capacity to bind guests, such as double-stranded DNA. Results are currently being prepared for publication in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals. Remarkably, before project completion, the researcher secured an academic position at a leading university in India.

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