A multiply branched peptide, H-Gly-Dap(H-Gly)-Dap(H-Gly-Dap(H-Gly))-Gly-NH₂ (Dap = L-2,3-diaminopropionic acid) has been designed to furnish multi-Cu²⁺ centers exhibiting electrocatalytic activity in water oxidation. Each branching moiety serves as binding pocket for one cupric ion. UV–vis, CD and EPR spectroscopy suggest {NH₂,N⁻,N⁻,NH₂}_eq set for the first two coordinated Cu²⁺ ions, whereas a different mode for the third that in turn changes the electrochemical behavior of the complex. This third Cu²⁺ triggers water oxidation at lower (~60 mV) overpotential, increased catalytic current and 4 times as high O₂ evolution rate compared to the 2:1 metal-to-ligand stoichiometry.

设计了多分支肽H-Gly-Dap（H-Gly）-Dap（H-Gly-Dap（H-Gly））-Gly-NH ₂（Dap =  L -2,3-二氨基丙酸）提供在水氧化中具有电催化活性的多Cu ²⁺中心。每个分支部分充当一个铜离子的结合袋。的UV-vis，CD和EPR光谱学建议{NH ₂，N ^-，N ^-，NH ₂ }_当量的前两个位Cu集²⁺离子，而以不同的模式用于第三，在依次改变的电化学行为复杂的。第三Cu ²⁺与金属与配体的化学计量比为2：1相比，可在较低的（〜60 mV）过电势下触发水氧化，增加催化电流，并以4倍高的O ₂释放速率触发水氧化。