Decoding the ECD Spectra of Poly(phenylacetylene)s: Structural Significance

Multi-chiral materials comprising metallosupramolecular and covalent helical polymers containing five axial motifs within a helix

Supramolecular and covalent polymers share multiple structural effects such as communication mechanisms among monomer repeating units, which are related to their axial helical structure. Herein, a unique multi-helical material combining information from both metallosupramolecular and covalent helical polymers is presented. In this system, the helical structure described by the poly(acetylene) (PA) backbone (cis-cisoidal, cis-transoidal) guides the pendant groups in a fashion where a tilting degree emerges between a pendant and the adjacent ones. As a result, a multi-chiral material is formed comprising four or five axial motifs when the polyene skeleton adopts either a cis-transoidal or cis-cisoidal configuration: the two coaxial helices-internal and external-and the two or three chiral axial motifs described by the bispyridyldichlorido Pt^II complex array. These results show that complex multi-chiral materials can be obtained by polymerizing appropriate monomers that combine both point chirality and the ability to generate chiral supramolecular assemblies.

Diastereomeric multi-chiral pendant groups: Their key role in stimuli-responsive polymeric responses

Chiral information transmission in helical polymers bearing multi-chiral pendant groups is usually determined by the absolute configuration of the first chiral center. The second chiral residue usually has low-to-null influence in the macromolecular handedness of the polymer, due to its remote position respect to the polyene main chain. Here, we demonstrate how the stimuli responsive properties of diastereomeric polymers, obtained by changing the absolute configuration of the second chiral center, are different due to the unlike properties of diastereoisomers.

Full Control of the Chiral Overpass Effect in Helical Polymers: P/M Screw Sense Induction by Remote Chiral Centers After Bypassing the First Chiral Residue

In helical polymers, helical sense induction is usually commanded by teleinduction mechanism, where the largest substituent of the chiral residue directly attached to the main chain is the one that commands the helical sense. In this work, different helical structures with different helical senses are induced in a helical polymer [poly-(phenylacetylene)] when the conformational composition of two different dihedral angles of a pendant group with more than two chiral residues is tamed. Thus, while the dihedral angle at chiral residue 1 [(R)- or (S)-alanine], attached to the backbone, produces an extended or bent conformation in the pendant resulting in two scaffolds with different stretching degree, the second dihedral angle at chiral residue 2 [(R)- or (S)-methoxyphenylacetamide] places the substituents of this chiral center in a different spatial orientation, originating opposite helical senses at the polymer that are induced through a total control of the "chiral overpass effect".

Signal Inversion and Amplification of Circularly Polarized Luminescence in a Poly(phenylacetylene)-Based Composite System Assisted by Achiral PMMA

Multichannel regulable circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) is fascinating because of its fundamental and application interest. There are few reports on helical sense (P-/M-helix) modulation and chiral signal amplification of polyacetylenes with the assistance of achiral polymers and further applications in precisely and conveniently regulating CPL handedness and magnitude. Herein, a helical poly(phenylacetylene)-based CPL-active system was constructed, in which CPL inversion occurred by adding achiral PMMA into a helical poly(phenylacetylene)-CHCl₃ solution. Significantly, there is almost 10 times magnification of luminescence dissymmetry factor values (|g_lum|) during this process. The above phenomena could be ascribed to the PMMA-assisted polyene backbone elongation and the formation of a more ordered helical structure for the poly(phenylacetylene)s. More interestingly, the CPL signal can be facilely inverted and switched by simply changing the thickness of the PPhAD/PMMA layer. The temperature-driven dynamic CPL handedness inversion and magnitude modulation can also be achieved. Based on the multiple regulations for CPL, logic operations were developed, and the practical application is further facilitated by designing various CPL patterns. This study establishes effective and convenient strategies to switch the handedness, magnitude, and wavelength of CPL, which may generate a breakthrough in the manufacturing of CPL-active smart materials and devices with promising application potential.

Spin-orbit coupling and the fine optical structure of chiral helical polymers

With the discovery of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect, it has been recognized that spin and structural spin-orbit coupling (SOC) play important roles in the electro-optical properties of chiral materials. We redefine the spin-dependent current and magnetic moment operators to include chiral-induced SOC in a helical polymer and deduce optical absorption and circular dichroism (CD) formulae. The fine structure in the optical spectra is calculated for a helical polymer described with the tight-binding model. The effects of both the electron orbit and spin on the optical absorption and CD are discussed. Our investigations demonstrate that the synergy between the electron orbit and spin will contribute to higher-sensitivity circularly polarized light (CPL) detection.

Merging Supramolecular and Covalent Helical Polymers: Four Helices Within a Single Scaffold

Supramolecular and covalent polymers share multiple structural effects such as chiral amplification, helical inversion, sergeants and soldiers, or majority rules, among others. These features are related to the axial helical structure found in both types of materials, which are responsible for their properties. Herein a novel material combining information and characteristics from both fields of helical polymers, supramolecular (oligo(p-phenyleneethynylene) (OPE)) and covalent (poly(acetylene) (PA)), is presented. To achieve this goal, the poly(acetylene) must adopt a dihedral angle between conjugated double bonds (ω1) higher than 165°. In such cases, the tilting degree (Θ) between the OPE units used as pendant groups is close to 11°, like that observed in supramolecular helical arrays of these molecules. Polymerization of oligo[(p-phenyleneethynylene)n]phenylacetylene monomers (n = 1, 2) bearing L-decyl alaninate as the pendant group yielded the desired scaffolds. These polymers adopt a stretched and almost planar polyene helix, where the OPE units are arranged describing a helical structure. As a result, a novel multihelix material was prepared, the ECD spectra of which are dominated by the OPE axial array.

From Oligo(Phenyleneethynylene) Monomers to Supramolecular Helices: The Role of Intermolecular Interactions in Aggregation

Supramolecular helices that arise from the self-assembly of small organic molecules via non-covalent interactions play an important role in the structure and properties of the corresponding materials. Here we study the supramolecular helical aggregation of oligo(phenyleneethynylene) monomers from a theoretical point of view, always guiding the studies with experimentally available data. In this way, by systematically increasing the number of monomer units, optimized n-mer geometries are obtained along with the corresponding absorption and circular dichroism spectra. For the geometry optimizations we use density functional theory together with the B3LYP-D3 functional and the 6–31G** basis set. For obtaining the spectra we resort to time-dependent density functional theory using the CAM-B3LYP functional and the 3–21G basis set. These combinations of density functional and basis set were selected after systematic convergence studies. The theoretical results are analyzed and compared to the experimentally available spectra, observing a good agreement.

Photochemical Electrocyclization of Poly(phenylacetylene)s: Unwinding Helices to Elucidate their 3D Structure in Solution

Photochemical electrocyclization of poly(phenylacetylene)s (PPAs) is used for the structural elucidation of a polyene backbone. This method not only allows classification of PPAs in cis-cisoidal (ω₁ <90°) or cis-transoidal structures (ω₁ >90°), but also approximating ω₁ . A PPA solution is illuminated with visible light and monitoring the photochemical electrocyclization of the PPA helix by measuring the ECD spectra at different times. PPAs with a cis-cisoidal structure show a reduction of the ECD signal of at least 50 % before 30 min of irradiation, while cis-transoidal helices need much longer time because the transoidal bond must be isomerized. The different cis-cisoidal and cis-transoidal helices require different times to decrease their ECD signal by 50 % (t_1/2 ), depending on the degree of compression or stretching of the helix, establishing a relationship between the secondary structure adopted by PPA (ω₁ ) and the time required to lose the ECD vinylic signal by light irradiation.

Helicity Control of Polymeric Backbones with Alternating cis-trans Double Bonds in Cyclopolymerized Dipropargyl Amides

We report the synthesis of new helical polymeric structures having alternating cis and trans double bonds and chiral amino acid side chains by metathesis cyclopolymerization. The polymer helicity, which is generated by the interaction between fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl (Fmoc) groups in the side chains, is dramatically affected by solvents. A thorough experimental and theoretical analysis including nuclear magnetic resonance, atomic force microscopy, and density functional theory and molecular mechanics calculations suggests that the helicity of both backbone and side chains are determined by anti-syn rotation of the carbamate groups and by the different interactions of the Fmoc groups with solvents.

Chiral information harvesting in helical poly(acetylene) derivatives using oligo(p-phenyleneethynylene)s as spacers

A chiral harvesting transmission mechanism is described in poly(acetylene)s bearing oligo(p-phenyleneethynylene)s (OPEs) used as rigid achiral spacers and derivatized with chiral pendant groups. The chiral moieties induce a positive or negative tilting degree in the stacking of OPE units along the polymer structure, which is further harvested by the polyene backbone adopting either a P or M helix.

Raman Optical Activity (ROA) as a New Tool to Elucidate the Helical Structure of Poly(phenylacetylene)s

Poly(phenylacetylene)s are a family of helical polymers constituted by conjugated double bonds. Raman spectra of these polymers show a structural fingerprint of the polyene backbone which, in combination with its helical orientation, makes them good candidates to be studied by Raman optical activity (ROA). Four different well-known poly(phenylacetylene)s adopting different scaffolds and ten different helical senses have been prepared. Raman and ROA spectra were recorded and allowed to establish ROA-spectrum/helical-sense relationships: a left/right-handed orientation of the polyene backbone (M_helix /P_helix ) produces a triplet of positive/negative ROA bands. Raman and ROA spectra of each polymer exhibited the same profile, and the sign of the ROA spectrum was opposite to the lowest-energy electronic circular dichroism (ECD) band, indicating a resonance effect. Resonance ROA appears then as an indicator of the helical sense of poly(phenylacetylene)s, especially for those with an extra Cotton band in the ECD spectrum, where a wrong helical sense is assigned based on ECD, while ROA alerts of this misassignment.