A series of indolocarbazole-based foldamers have been prepared which can fold into a helical array with an internal cavity encircled by multiple indole NHs, thus allowing for binding anions by hydrogen bonds. The helical folding has been confirmed by computer modeling, 1H NMR spectroscopy, 2D ROESY experiments, and binding studies. A water- soluble derivative binds small, hydrophilic anions in the order Cl−> F−> Br− but negligibly ...
