Scheme 1. Design of the amphiphilic foldamer. (a) Molecular structure of the PN–VN amphiphilic foldamer. (b) Molecular models of the folded and unfolded conformations of PN–VN, which have significant differences in packing factors, and a schematic representation of the corresponding amphiphilic self-assembly. (c) Schematic representation for the transient conformational response of the foldamer driven by a chemical fuel and mediated via an enzymatic pathway. PN–VN = pyranine–viologen foldamer, SDT = sodium dithionite, GO_x = glucose oxidase.