Folding of dihelicenetriamines in water

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0957-4166(02)00249-5

Diastereomeric triamines containing two helicene moieties, 1,12-dimethylbenzo[c]phenanthrene, were synthesized and found to form folded structures in the water. Such folding was not observed for an achiral compound possessing a naphthalene moiety. The (M,M)-dihelicenetriamine with matching configuration at the helicene moieties formed a more stable folded structure than the (P,M)-isomer containing two enantiomeric helicene groups. The most stable folded conformation was predicted by the Monte Carlo method with Amber force field of the dihelicenetriamine.