Structure-Property Relationship Study of N-(Hydroxy)Peptides for the Design of Self-Assembled Parallel β-Sheets.

The design of novel and functional biomimetic foldamers remains a major challenge in creating mimics of native protein structures. Herein, we report the stabilization of a short b-sheet by incorporating N-(hydroxy)glycine (Hyg) residues into the backbone of peptides. These short peptide−peptoid hybrids form unique parallel b-sheet structures by self-assembly. Spectroscopic and crystallographic data collected suggest that the local conformational perturbations induced by N-(hydroxy)amides are outweighed by a network of strong interstrand hydrogen-bonds.