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Updated: May 31, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Covalent reinforcement of hydrogen-bonded discs into stably folded helical structures
Zhongzhu Chen1, Nathaniel D Urban, Yi Gao
1Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Abstract:
The presence of covalent tethers significantly enhanced the stability of structures consisting of helically arranged benzenetricarboxamide units that otherwise undergo very weak hydrogen-bonding interaction. The resultant molecular structures were probed by computational study, which predicted folded conformations consisting of helically arranged discs. Experimental studies confirmed the H-bonding interaction between the disk units, the monomeric nature of the corresponding molecules in solution, and the helical conformations of such molecules.
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