Enforcing periodic secondary structures in hybrid peptides:: A novel hybrid foldamer containing periodic γ-turn motifs

This note describes the design, synthesis, and conformational studies of a novel hybrid foldamer that adopts a definite compact, three-dimensional structure determined by a combined effect of the special conformational properties of the foldamer constituents. The striking feature of this de novo designed foldamer is its ability to display periodic gamma-turn conformations stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Conformational investigations by single-crystal X-ray studies, solution-state NMR, and ab initio MO theory at the HF/6-31G* level strongly support the prevalence of gamma-turn motifs in both the di- and tetrapeptide foldamers, which are presumably stabilized by bifurcated hydrogen bonds in the solid and solution states. The strategy disclosed herein for the construction of hybrid foldamers with periodic gamma-turn motifs has the potential to significantly augment the conformational space available for foldamer design with diverse backbone structures and conformations.