Temperature dependence of helical structures of poly(phenylacetylene) derivatives bearing an optically active substituent

The temperature dependence of the helical conformations for the homopolymers of phenylacetylene derivatives bearing an optically active substituent, such as the (R)-((1-phenylethyl)carbamoyl)oxy and (R)-((1-(1-naphthyl)ethyl)carbamoyl)oxy groups at the phenyl group, and their copolymers with achiral phenylacetylenes were investigated in solution using circular dichroism (CD) and absorption spectroscopies. The magnitude of the induced CD (ICD) of the optically active homopolymers increased with decreasing temperature and was accompanied by a blueshift in their absorption maxima. On the other hand, the copolymers with achiral phenylacetylenes exhibited interesting ICD changes with temperature, depending on the bulkiness of the achiral comonomers. The copolymers with a less bulky phenylacetylene had a very intense ICD at low temperatures, the ICD pattern was almost opposite to those of the chiral homopolymers, while the copolymers with the most bulky phenylacetylene bearing a tert-butyldiphenylsiloxy group at the para position showed an ICD change similar to that of the optically active homopolymers. However, the copolymers with the phenylacetylene bearing a tert-butyldimethylsiloxy group with intermediate bulkiness at the para position showed no ICD change with temperature. These results indicate that the prevailing helix-sense of the chiral-achiral random copolymers of the phenylacetylenes is determined by a delicate interaction between the chiral and achiral side chains. The thermodynamic stability parameters for the helical conformations of the homopolymers and copolymers of the phenylacetylenes were estimated from the temperature dependence of the ICDs.