Chirality organization of ferrocenes bearing dipeptide chains of heterochiral sequence.

[structures: see text] The symmetrical introduction of two dipeptide chains of heterochiral sequence (-L-Ala-D-Pro-NHPy) into the ferrocene scaffold as a central reverse-turn unit was demonstrated to induce both antiparallel beta-sheet-like and type II beta-turn-like structures simultaneously, affording the chirality-organized structure. The ferrocene bearing only one dipeptide chain (-L-Ala-D-Pro-NHPy) exhibited a left-handed helically ordered molecular assembly through a network of intermolecular hydrogen bonds instead of intramolecular hydrogen bonds.