A spirocyclic backbone accesses new conformational space in an extended, dipole-stabilized foldamer
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Updated: Aug 2, 2025

Unraveling Entropic Rate Acceleration Induced by Solvent Dynamics in Membrane Enzymes
Published on: January 16, 2016
William Edward Roe1, Toyah Mary Catherine Warnock1, Peter Clarke Knipe2
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast, David Keir Building, Belfast, BT9 5AG, UK.
Abstract:
Most aromatic foldamers adopt uniform secondary structures, offering limited potential for the exploration of conformational space and the formation of tertiary structures. Here we report the incorporation of spiro bis-lactams to allow controlled rotation of the backbone of an iteratively synthesised foldamer. This enables precise control of foldamer shape along two orthogonal directions, likened to the aeronautical yaw and roll axes. XRD, NMR and computational data suggest that homo-oligomers adopt an extended right-handed helix with a pitch of over 30 Å, approximately that of B-DNA. Compatibility with extant foldamers to form hetero-oligomers is demonstrated, allowing greater structural complexity and function in future hybrid foldamer designs.
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