Chiral supramolecular polymerization of dicyanostilbenes with emergent circularly polarized luminescence behavior

Abstract

Chiral supramolecular polymerization of π-conjugated molecules has become a feasible route toward the synthesis of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials. It remains challenging to solve emission quenching and/or chiral contamination issues upon supramolecular polymerization, which are detrimental to the CPL performance. To address these problems, herein dicyanostilbene-based supramolecular polymers have been designed and constructed, which display fluorescence emission enhancement due to the prevention of free bond rotations. Moreover, effective supramolecular chirality transfer occurs in dilute apolar media, with the absence of CD artifacts derived from macroscopic alignments. This consequently leads to the emergence of CPL signals in the supramolecular polymeric state, in stark contrast to CPL-silent behaviour in the monomeric state. Overall, the chiral supramolecular polymerization strategy in the current example facilitates the rational design of high-performance CPL materials.