Hydrogen bonded oligohydrazide foldamers and their recognition for saccharides.

This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of the first series of hydrogen bonding-driven hydrazide foldamers and their recognition for alkyl saccharides in chloroform. Oligomers 1, 2-4, 5, 6, and 7, which contain one, two, four, six, or twelve repeated dibenzoyl hydrazide residues, respectively, have been prepared. The rigid and planar conformations of 1 and 2 or 4 have been established with X-ray analysis and (1)H NMR spectroscopy, whereas the folding and helical conformations of 5-7 have been evidenced by the 1D and 2D (1)H NMR and IR spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations. Molecular mechanics calculations also revealed that 5, 6, and 7 possess a rigid cavity with size of ca. 10.6 to 11.1 A, and half of the carbonyl groups in the folding conformations are orientated inwardly inside the cavity. (1)H NMR and CD experiments revealed that 5-7 efficiently complex alkylated mono- and disaccharides 32-35 in chloroform. The association constants (K(assoc)) of the complexes have been determined with the (1)H NMR and fluorescent titration methods. The energy-minimized conformation of 6.34 has been obtained with molecular mechanics calculation. The hydrazide-based folding structures described here represent novel examples of hydrogen bonding-driven foldamers that act as artificial receptors for selective molecular recognition.