Self-Assembly of Ferrocenyl Phenylalanine into Nanohelical Arrays via Kinetic Control

The spontaneous alignment of self-assembled chiral nanostructures at macroscopic scales is appealing because of their unique structural features and physicochemical properties. Here we present the construction of highly ordered bioorganometallic nanohelical arrays on the basis of the hierarchical chiral self-assembly of the simple ferrocenyl l-phenylalanine (Fc-l-F). The formation of nanohelical arrays is under kinetic control, which can be controlled by changing the growth time and the vapor temperature. The chiral nanoarrays can generate circularly polarized luminescence by the incorporation of fluorescent dyes. Moreover, due to the redox activity of the Fc moiety, the nanohelical arrays show enhanced electrical capacity compared with previously reported peptide nanomaterials. The results shed light on the highly ordered chiral self-assembled nanomaterials, which have potential applications in fields of optics, sensing, and energy storage.