Tris(imidazolines) are assembled via triple hydrogen bonding interactions to give rise to a stacked polymeric structure. A mixture of chiral tris(oxazoline) and achiral tris(imidazoline) generates a helical assembly in which the helical direction of the assembly is unidirectionally induced by the chirality of tris(oxazoline). (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.