Polymeric Tubular Aromatic Amide Helices

Abstract

Conjugated polymers may be induced by intra- and/or intermolecular non-covalent forces to fold into helical conformations. Helices formed by aromatic amide, hydrazide, and urea polymers possess a well-organized cavity and depth, which is defined by their degree of polymerization. Driving forces may be intramolecular hydrogen bonding and/or solvophobicity, or guest induction. The resulting long helices represent a new class of unimacromolecular dynamic tubular architectures that exhibit unique properties or functions in, for example, molecular recognition, chirality transfer, and ion transporting. The recent advances are highlighted here.

Keywords: foldamer; helix; macromolecular tubes; molecular recognition; polymers.