Non-Covalent Interactions Enforce Conformation in Switchable and Water-Soluble Diketopiperazine-Pyridine Foldamers.

To reach their potential as mimics of the dynamic molecules present in biological systems, foldamers must be designed to display stimulus-responsive behavior. Here we report such a foldamer architecture based on alternating pyridine-diketopiperazine linkers. Epimerization is conveniently prevented through a copper-catalyzed coupling protocol.