A water-soluble metal-organic complex array as a multinuclear heterometallic peptide amphiphile that shows unconventional anion dependency in its self-assembly.

Water-soluble metal-organic complex array 1, bearing Ru(II), Pt(II) and Rh(III) complexes at the side residues of the short peptide, exhibits anion and pH-responsive self-assembly behaviours in aqueous media. NaCl-induced aggregation of 1 at neutral pH was suppressed in phosphate buffered saline containing a mixture of Cl(-), HPO4(2-) and H2PO4(-), which is unconventional for a peptide amphiphile.