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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Formation of Ordered Biomolecular Structures by the Self-assembly of Short Peptides
Published on: November 21, 2013
Self-assembly of dipeptidyl ureas: a new class of hydrogen-bonded molecular duplexes
Toshiyuki Moriuchi1, Takashi Tamura, Toshikazu Hirao
1Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka University, Yamada-oka, Suita, Japan.
Abstract:
The dipeptidyl urea 1 composed of two dipeptide chains bearing the C-terminal pyridyl moiety (-L-Ala-L-Pro-NHPy) was prepared. Two molecules of 1 are revealed to be held together by six intermolecular hydrogen bonds to form a hydrogen-bonded duplex by the single-crystal X-ray structure determination. Proton magnetic resonance nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) study indicates the hydrogen-bonded duplex even in solution. Furthermore, a shuttle-like molecular dynamics based on recombination of the hydrogen bonds was observed. The dipeptidyl urea composed of two dipeptide chains bearing the C-terminal pyrenyl moiety (-L-Ala-L-Pro-NHCH(2)Pyr) exhibited both monomer and eximer emissions in the fluorescence spectra, supporting the formation of a duplex. A combination of the C-terminal amide NH function in each side and the designed sequence of hydrogen-bonding sites are considered to be a crucial factor for the duplex formation.
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