Chiral Induction in Phenanthroline-Derived Oligoamide Foldamers:  An Acid- and Base-Controllable Switch in Helical Molecular Strands

Abstract

A series of phenanthroline-derived oligoamides bearing a chiral (R)-phenethylamino end group were synthesized that displayed chiral helical induction and subsequently formed one-hand helical foldamers in solution. Moreover, an acid- and base-controllable switch in the helical molecular strands was observed, which has been demonstrated by NMR, UV-vis, and circular dichroism spectroscopy.