Quadruple hybridization of quinoline–triazole oligomers

Abstract

A series of quinoline–triazole oligomers and their quadruple helical structures are demonstrated. The helical folding is mainly induced by the intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and solvophobic effects impel the aggregation, causing the quadruplex to be more stable in DMSO than in CDCl₃ by four orders of magnitude. As a proof of concept, our studies reveal a tetramerization mechanism in which the single sequences first hybridize to dimers, and then two such dimers further aggregate into a quadruplex.