Abstract Water-soluble poly (m-ethynylpyridine) s were designed to realize saccharide recognition in protic media. UV/Vis, 1 H NMR, and fluorescence measurements revealed that the polymer forms a helical higher order structure by solvophobic interactions between the ethynylpyridine units in the protic medium. The resulting pore in the helix behaves like a binding pocket in proteins, by taking advantage of inwardly directed hydrogen-bonding ...
