Catalytic peptide/hemin complex from ester–amide exchange reaction mediated by deep eutectic solvents

Abstract

The functions of peptides often emerge upon their self-assembly or binding with other co-factors. However, the synthetic complexity makes these functional peptides intractable. Here, we utilize the ester–amide exchange reaction in deep eutectic solvents to generate peptide libraries from unactivated amino acids. This strategy leads to peptide mixtures that exhibit hemin-binding capability and peroxidase-like activity.