Control of duplex formation and columnar self-assembly with heterogeneous amide/urea macrocycles.

The perfect blend: A new class of self-assembling cyclooligomers with mixed urea/amide backbone is described (see figure). A high level of hierarchical and directional control is achieved: depending on the level of backbone preorganization, columnar or tubular arrangements with either parallel or antiparallel growing modes can be selected.