Conformationally constrained aromatic oligoamide foldamers with supersecondary structure motifs.

The design, synthesis, and structural studies of aromatic foldamers based on oligo(phenanthroline dicarboxamide)s that displayed supersecondary structure motifs have been described. Governed by a combined conformational restriction, the foldamers adopted well defined and compact 3D structures, which have been validated by UV/Vis, NMR spectra, and X-ray crystal analysis. The results presented here would offer a useful route for the de novo design of aromatic oligoamide foldamers with distinctive structural architectures.