12-Helix Folding of Cyclobutane β-Amino Acid Oligomers

Abstract

The hexamer and octamer of trans-2-aminocyclobutane carboxylic acid were prepared and their conformational preferences studied experimentally and using molecular modeling. All observations suggest a marked preference for the folding of these oligomers into a well-defined 12-helical conformation, in both solution and the solid state.