Loading Linear Arrays of Cu Inside Aromatic Amide Helices.

The very stable helices of 8-amino-2-quinolinecarboxylic acid oligoamides are shown to uptake Cu ions in their cavity through deprotonation of their amide functions with minimal alteration of their shape, unlike most metallo-organic structures which generally differ from their organic precursors. The outcome is the formation of intramolecular linear arrays of a defined number of Cu centers (up to sixteen in this study) at a 3 Å distance, forming a molecular mimic of a metal wire completely surrounded by an organic sheath. The helices pack in the solid state so that the arrays of Cu extend intermolecularly. Conductive-AFM and cyclic voltammetry suggest that electrons are transported throughout the metal-loaded helices in contrast with hole transport observed for analogous foldamers devoid of metal ions.