A ternary modular molecular co-assembly with flexibly tailored chiroptical properties

Abstract

A rational design of chiroptical active materials from a multi-component co-assembly remains a great challenge due to the spontaneous pathway competition and complexity. In this study, we report a modularized, ternary component co-assembly system constituted by two N-terminated aromatic glutamic amino acids and an imidazole-based binder, which demonstrate mutual binding behaviors via aromatic interactions and complementary H-bonds that allow for flexible manipulation of the chiroptical activities, including circularly polarized light absorbance and luminescence. Through a modular combination, we synthesized up to six self-assembled aggregates with distinct chiroptical activities, showing chirality emergence, transfer, amplification and inversion behaviors. The modular molecular self-assembly protocol provides an alternative route to the noncovalent synthesis of chiroptical active materials with high throughput efficacy.