Folding-induced selective hydrogenation of helical 9,10-anthraquinone analogues.

The first selective catalytic hydrogenation induced by the artificial helix based on oligo(phenanthroline dicarboxamide)s containing a 9,10-anthraquinone subunit is described. Due to the steric hindrance within the helically folded oligomers, the selective reductions of the anthraquinone units were completely different from those of model substrates, which subsequently mimicked the enzyme catalysis for preventing some reactions from occurring.