33 crystal structures (11 unsolvated and 22 solvates) of a series of seven oligoamide foldamers were analysed. The crystal structures revealed that despite the structural and environmental differences the series of foldamers prefer only two general conformations, a protohelical @-conformation and a sigmoidal S-conformation. Both conformations also have preferred crystal packing motifs and solvate forming tendencies. Hydrogen bonding was found to be the most decisive factor in conformational preference, but steric properties, the type of the peripheral substituents, as well as solvent and aromatic interactions were also found to have an effect on the conformational details and crystal form.