Chiral metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a growing interest for their potentialuse in energy technologies, asymmetric catalysis, chiral separation, and on a more basic level, the creationof new topologies in inorganic materials. The current paper is the first report on a peptide-based MOF, ametal peptide framework (MPF), constructed from an oligovaline peptide family developed earlier by ourgroup (Mantion, A.; et al.
Macromol. Biosci. 2007,
7, 208). We have used a simple oligopeptide, Z-(
L-Val)
2-
L-Glu(OH)-OH, to grow porous copper and calcium MPFs. The MPFs form thanks to the self-assembling properties of the peptide and specific metal-peptide and metal-ammonia interactions. Theyare stable up to ca. 250
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C and have some internal porosity, which makes them a promising prototype forthe further development of MPFs.