Noncovalent interactions, especially hydrogen-bonding interactions as well as electrostatic forces, confined within one macromolecule are the key to designing foldamers that adopt well-defined conformations in solution. In the context of significant recent activities in the area of triazole-connected foldamers, so-called clickamers, we present a fundamental study that compares various model compounds that bear adjacent N-, O-, or F-heteroatom substituents. The interplay of attractive and repulsive interactions leads to rotational constraints around the single bonds attached to both the 1- and 4-positions of the 1,2,3-triazole moiety and should therefore be able to induce well-defined conformational preferences in higher oligomers and polymers, that is, foldamers. Various compounds were synthesized and characterized with regard to their preferred conformations in all three aggregation states--that is, in the gas phase, in solution as well as in the solid state--by employing DFT calculations, NMR spectroscopic experiments, and X-ray crystallography, respectively. On the basis of the thus-obtained general understanding of the conformational behavior of the individual connection motifs, heterostructures were prepared from different motifs without affecting their distinct folding characteristics. Therefore, this work provides a kind of foldamer construction kit, which should enable the design of various clickamers with specific shape and incorporated functionality.

Two novel bis(triazolyl)carbazole ligands Hbtc1 (3,6-di(tert-butyl)-1,8-bis[(1-(3,5-di(tert-butyl)phenyl)-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)]-9H-carbazole) and Hbtc2 (3,6-di(tert-butyl)-1,8-bis[(4-(3,5-di(tert-butyl)phenyl)-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)]-9H-carbazole), differing in the regiochemistry of triazole attachment, have been synthesized by Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, the so-called "click-reactions". Metalation with Ru, Zn, and Ni precursors led to the formation of M(btc) complexes (M=Ru, Zn, Ni), with two deprotonated ligands coordinating to the metal center in tridentate fashion, forming almost perfectly octahedral coordination spheres. The redox properties of M(btc) complexes have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, UV/Vis spectroscopy, spectroelectrochemistry, and chemically. The CV of the ruthenium complexes revealed three quasi-reversible one-electron oxidation processes, one assigned as the Ru couple and two originating from ligand-based oxidations. The CVs of both Zn and Ni complexes contained only two oxidation waves corresponding to the oxidation of the two ligands. The oxidation potentials of complexes derived from Hbtc1 ligands were found to be 300-400 mV lower than those of the corresponding complexes derived from Hbtc2, reflecting the significant difference in donation through the N(2) or N(3) atom of the triazole moiety.