Embracing Complexity: Peptides as Tunable Scaffolds in the Construction of Discrete Supramolecular Systems

Supramolecular chemistry has advanced rapidly, with scientists using fundamental understanding to generate function from simple building blocks. However, synthetic systems are still in their infancy when compared to biology. The increasing use of peptides in supramolecular structures provides a clear roadmap to more complex function, introducing chiral, information-rich building blocks from a readily available pool. Peptides have historically been incorporated as modular additions to discrete supramolecular architectures to interface with biological systems. More recently, supramolecular chemists have embraced the complexity of secondary and tertiary structures and peptides' intrinsic propensity for folding to enable the formation of supramolecular architectures built from peptides, leveraging their innate properties. We explore the urgent need to embrace complex, chiral, folded building blocks in discrete supramolecular architectures and illustrate how this will provide opportunities for novel functions and applications.