Achiral copper clusters helically confined in self-assembled chiral nanotubes emitting circularly polarized phosphorescence

Abstract

Integration of atomically precise clusters into chiral nanoassemblies facilitates the fabrication of functional ordered phases with supramolecular chirality, which remains mysterious. Herein, oxygen-sensitive achiral Cu cluster coassembled with a chiral amphiphile to afford helical nanotube, where Cu cluster was confined within the nanotube to emit phosphorescene, and forming helical arrangement with emerged chiroptical activities including circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized phosphorescence (CPP), with a relatively large absorptive asymmetry g-factor up to 0.018. This work offers a facile and universal protocol for designing chiroptical materials based on coinage metal clusters.