An abiotic, tetrameric, eight-helix bundle.

Four helically folded aromatic oligoamide sequences containing either a chiral monomer based on 2-(2-aminophenoxy)-propionic acid, an N-terminal (1)-camphanyl group, or both, were synthesized. Spectroscopic solution investigations using H NMR and circular dichroism (CD) demonstrated that the 2-(2-aminophenoxy)-propionic acid unit biases helix handedness quantitatively in chloroform and dichloromethane. It even quantitatively overcomes an opposing effect of the camphanyl group and thus ensures reliable helix handedness control.