Folding-controlled assembly of -phenylene-based macrocycles.

The self-assembly of foldamers into macrocycles is a simple approach to non-biological higher-order structure. Previous work on the co-assembly of -phenylene foldamers with rod-shaped linkers has shown that folding and self-assembly affect each other; that is, the combination leads to new emergent behavior, such as access to otherwise unfavorable folding states. To this point this relationship has been passive.