New meta-arylene ethynylene foldamers were developed by employing pyridine and phenol units. These demonstrated interesting properties related to the hydrogen-bonding behavior of the arylene units. Pyridine-acetylene-phenol foldamers showed improved saccharide recognition abilities compared with pyridine-acetylene foldamers with no phenol units. Solid-liquid extraction could be achieved due to the strong binding. Hydrocarbon stapling by alkene metathesis under templation was attempted, and the helical structure was efficiently stabilized. Phenol-acetylene oligomers spontaneously formed helical structures via intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The helical sense could be biased by adding chiral amines.