Crystalline amino acids - A link between chemistry, materials science and biology

Amino acids belong to systems that are replete with mystery and magic and that serve as beautiful models. These small molecules form the elementary basis of peptides and proteins, which are crucial for life. This condition alone would suffice to make the study of amino acids exciting and important, but studies of amino acids are,not restricted to biological problems. Amino acids can form not only variable peptide chains but also three-dimensional crystalline structures, which are no less variable and beautiful than biopolymers. Polymorphism of crystalline amino acids is a challenge for crystal engineers, and also for those researchers who are involved in studying intermolecular interactions, in particular - hydrogen bonds. Crystalline amino acids can serve as biomimetics modeling interactions in biopolymers. Phase transitions in crystalline amino acids are related to the folding of peptides. Crystalline amino acids serve as drugs and molecular materials, and the control of their structures and properties finds important applications in industry. Biomolecular assemblies - polyaminoacids, two-dimensional peptide-layered structures, peptide nanoporous structures - form a link between proteins and crystalline amino acids. Comparative studies of the sequence: crystalline amino acids - polyaminoacids - peptide layers - proteins provide insight into the properties of matter in its diverse forms.