Chapter 8: Synthetic Receptors for Amino Acids and Peptides

Molecular recognition of amino acids and peptides by protein receptors or enzymes is a crucial process in biological systems. For several decades researchers have been developing synthetic receptors for amino acids and peptides with the eventual aim of producing new classes of sensors, separation systems, research tools, and pharmaceutical agents. This chapter describes the various design strategies that use non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, metal cation coordination, salt bridges, hydrophobic stacking, or π–π interactions. In other cases, the designs exploit specific covalent reactions with chemical probes. The chapter concludes with a summary of ongoing challenges and future directions.