Isolable chiral aggregates of achiral π-conjugated carboxylic acids

The induced aggregation of achiral building blocks by a chiral species to form chiral aggregates with memorized chirality has been observed for a number of systems. However, chiral memory in isolated aggregates of achiral building blocks remains rare. One possible reason for this discrepancy could be that not much is understood in terms of designing these chiral aggregates. Herein, we report a strategy for creating such isolable chiral aggregates from achiral building blocks that retain chiral memory after the facile physical removal of the chiral templates. This strategy was used for the isolation of chiral homoaggregates of neutral achiral π-conjugated carboxylic acids in pure aqueous solution. Under what we have termed an "interaction-substitution" mechanism, we generated chiral homoaggregates of a variety of π-conjugated carboxylic acids by using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a mediator in acidic aqueous solutions. These aggregates were subsequently isolated from the CMC templates whilst retaining their memorized supramolecular chirality. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the aggregates formed in the acidic CMC solution exhibited bisignated exciton-coupled signals of various signs and intensities that were maintained in the isolated pure homoaggregates of the achiral π-conjugated carboxylic acids. The memory of the supramolecular chirality in the isolated aggregates was ascribed to the substitution of COOH/COOH hydrogen-bonding interaction between the carboxylic acid groups within the aggregates for the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the COOH groups of the building blocks and the chiral templates. We expect that this "interaction-substitution" procedure will open up a new route to isolable pure chiral aggregates from achiral species.     

Tuning Achiral to Chiral Supramolecular Helical Superstructures

The design and synthesis of achiral organic functional molecules which can assemble into a chiral with selective handedness in the absence of chiral substances is an important in understanding the role chirality plays within these systems. In this review, we described general approaches towards supramolecular chiral molecules the synthesis and self‐assembly of achiral molecule to active chiral molecules to investigate controlled supramolecular chiral nanostructures with their photoluminescent properties for rapid, sensitive and selective detection of analytes of choice. Various small molecules have been discussed for achiral to chiral along with induction of chirality and controlled chiral helical structures in detail. We discussed few examples where stimuli used to control the chirality such as temperature, pH etc. Finally, we will also explore on the photo responsive helicity properties of the aggregation induced emission active molecule such as tetraphenylethene conjugates.     

Chiral assembly of organic luminogens with aggregation-induced emission

Chirality is important to chemistry, biology and optoelectronic materials. The study on chirality has lasted for more than 170 years since its discovery. Recently, chiral materials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) have attracted increasing interest because of their fascinating photophysical properties. In this review, we discussed the recent development of chiral materials with AIE properties, including their molecular structures, self-assembly and functions. Generally, the most effective strategy to design a chiral AIE luminogen (AIEgen) is to attach a chiral scaffold to an AIE-active fluorophore through covalent bonds. Moreover, some propeller-like or shell-like AIEgens without chiral units exhibit latent chirality upon mirror image symmetry breaking. The chirality of achiral AIEgens can also be induced by some optically active molecules through non-covalent interactions. The introduction of an AIE unit into chiral materials can enhance the efficiency of their circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) in the solid state and the dissymmetric factors of their helical architectures formed through self-assembly. Thus, highly efficient circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CPOLEDs) with AIE characteristics are developed and show great potential in 3D displays. Chiral AIEgens are also widely utilized as “turn on” sensors for rapid enantioselective determination of chiral reagents. It is anticipated that the present review can entice readers to realize the importance of chirality and attract much more chemists to contribute their efforts to chirality and AIE study.

This review highlights the recent development of chiral materials with aggregation-induced emission properties, including their molecular structures, self-assembly and functions.     

Synthesis, solid-state structures, and aggregation motifs of phosphines and phosphine oxides bearing one 2-pyridone ring

Three phosphines and their corresponding oxides bearing one 2-pyridone ring and two benzene rings were synthesized. Their single-crystal X-ray analyses exhibited three kinds of molecular aggregation: bimolecular aggregates, chiral one-dimensional structures, and achiral one-dimensional structures. In the bimolecular aggregate of (2-oxo-1, 2-dihydro-x-pyridyl)diphenylphosphines (x = 3: 2a and 6: 2c), cyclic dimers that are derived from two 2-pyridone rings are observed. In contrast, (2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-5-pyridyl)diphenylphosphine (2b) molecules form a chiral one-dimensional chain via intermolecular hydrogen bonding. In the case of phosphine oxides, their oxygen always acts as a hydrogen acceptor of the hydrogen bonding. Thus, (2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-x-pyridyl)diphenylphosphine oxides (x = 3: 3a and 5: 3b) form hydrogen bonds intermolecularly between the oxygen atom on the phosphoryl group and the hydrogen atom on nitrogen to construct a chiral or an achiral one-dimensional chain. Interestingly, (2-oxo-1,2-dihydro-6-pyridyl)diphenylphosphine oxide (3c) exists as a 2-hydroxypyridine form (enol form) in a crystalline state, and intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the phosphoryl oxygen and the hydroxy proton construct an achiral one-dimensional chain.     

Copolymerized polymeric surfactants: characterization and application in micellar electrokinetic chromatography

An achiral monomeric surfactant (sodium 10-undecenyl sulfate, SUS) and a chiral surfactant (sodium 10-undecenoyl L-leucinate, SUL) were synthesized and polymerized individually to form poly-SUS and poly-SUL. These surfactants were then copolymerized at various molar ratios to produce a variety of copolymerized surfactants (CoPSs), possessing both achiral (sulfate) and chiral (leucinate) head groups. The CoPSs, poly-SUS, poly-SUL, and sodium dodecyl sulfate were characterized using several analytical techniques. The aggregation numbers of the polymeric surfactants and the partial specific volumes were determined by the use of fluorescence quenching and density measurements, respectively. These polymeric surfactants were investigated as novel pseudostationary phases in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) for the separation of chiral and achiral solutes. Solute hydrophobicity was found to have major influence on the MEKC retention of alkyl phenyl ketones. In contrast, hydrogen-bonding ability of benzodiazepines is the major factor that governs their retention, but hydrophobicity has an insignificant effect on MEKC retention of benzodiazepines.     

“Inherently Chiral” Ionic‐Liquid Media: Effective Chiral Electroanalysis on Achiral Electrodes

To achieve enantioselective electroanalysis either chiral electrodes or chiral media are needed. High enantiodiscrimination properties can be granted by the “inherent chirality” strategy of developing molecular materials in which the stereogenic element responsible for chirality coincides with the molecular portion responsible for their specific properties, an approach recently yielding outstanding performances as electrode surfaces. Inherently chiral ionic liquids (ICILs) have now been prepared starting from atropisomeric 3,3′‐bicollidine, synthesized from inexpensive reagents, resolved into antipodes without need of chiral HPLC and converted into long‐chain dialkyl salts with melting points below room temperature. Both the new ICILs and shorter family terms, solid at room temperature, employed as low‐concentration additives in achiral ILs, afford impressive enantioselection for the enantiomers of different probes on achiral electrodes, regularly increasing with additive concentration.     

Co-Assembly of Chiral Amines and a Four-Armed Cyano-Substituted Luminophore through Hydrogen Bonds for Potential Development of Smart Chiroptical Materials

Chirality transfer from chiral molecules to assemblies is of vital importance to the design of functional chiral materials. In this work, selective co-assembly behaviors between chiral molecules and an achiral luminophore, potentially driven by the intermolecular salt-bridge type hydrogen bonds are reported. Cyano-substituted tetrakis(arylthio)benzene carboxylic acid ( TA ) served as the luminophore and hydrogen bond donors, which underwent co-assembly with different chiral amines. It was found that structures of chiral amines affect the chirality transfer and the properties of co-assemblies due to effects on hydrogen bonds and stacking pattern. Only in specific co-assemblies, the chiroptical properties occurred at both ground state and excited states based on the emerged Cotton effects and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) signals, revealing that the chirality was successfully transferred from molecular level to supramolecular level. In addition, accurate quantitative examination of chiral amines was realized by circular dichroism (CD) spectra. This work demonstrates the characteristic chirality response and transfer through co-assembly, providing a potential method to develop smart chiroptical materials.     

Self-Complementary Quadruple Hydrogen-Bonding Motifs as a Functional Principle: From Dimeric Supramolecules to Supramolecular Polymers

The self-association of individual molecules can lead to the formation of highly complex and fascinating supramolecular aggregates. However, for binding motifs which rely only on hydrogen bonds, a combination of several such weak interactions is necessary to observe self-association in solution. Systems based on four hydrogen bonds in a linear array can be obtained which efficiently aggregate at least in chloroform. Besides the physical-organic characterization of these aggregates and the factors influencing their stability, such quadruple hydrogen-bonding motifs can also be used in the field of materials science to synthesize, for the first time, supramolecular polymers through the self-association of self-complementary monomers. As the formation of noncovalent interactions is reversible and their strength depends significantly on the chemical environment (for example, solvent, temperature), the macroscopic properties of such polymers can be controlled by variation of these parameters; hence a first step towards intelligent materials with tailor-made properties is made.     

To Protonate or Alkylate? Stereoselective Brønsted Acid Catalysis of C?C Bond Formation Using Diazoalkanes

A new means to activate diazoalkanes has been discovered and applied broadly over the past few years. Brønsted acids, both achiral and chiral, have been used to promote the formation of carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds with a growing number of diazoalkane derivatives. Aside from their straightforward ability to build structural and stereochemical complexity in innovative new ways, these transformations are remarkable owing to their ability to skirt competitive diazo protonation—a reaction that has long been used to prepare esters efficiently and cleanly from carboxylic acids. In cases where achiral Brønsted acids are used, high diastereoselection can be achieved. Meanwhile, chiral Brønsted acids can deliver products with both high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivity. More recently, systems have emerged that combine Brønsted acids and either Lewis acids or transition metals to promote carbon–carbon bond formation from diazoalkanes.     

Encoding Chiral Molecular Information in Metal Structures

The concept of encoding molecular information in bulk metals has been proposed over the past decade. The structure of various types of molecules, including enantiomers, can be imprinted in achiral substrates. Typically, to encode metals with chiral information, several approaches, based on chemical and electrochemical concepts, can be used. In this Minireview, recent achievements with respect to the development of such materials are discussed, including the entrapment of chiral biomolecules in metals, the chiral imprinting of metals, as well as the combination of imprinting with nanostructuring. The features and potential applications of these designer materials, such as chirooptical properties, enantioselective adsorption and separation, as well as their use for asymmetric synthesis will be presented. This will illustrate that the development of molecularly encoded metal structures opens up very interesting perspectives, especially in the frame of chiral technologies.     

Helicity Control in the Aggregation of Achiral Squaraine Dyes in Solution and Thin Films

Squaraine dyes are well known for their strong absorption in the visible regime. Reports on chiral squaraine dyes are, however, scarce. To address this gap, we here report two novel chiral squaraine dyes and their achiral counterparts. The presented dyes are aggregated in solution and in thin films. A detailed chiroptical study shows that thin films formed by co-assembling the chiral dye with its achiral counterpart exhibit exceptional photophysical properties. The circular dichroism (CD) of the co-assembled structures reaches a maximum when just 25 % of the chiral dye are present in the mixture. The solid structures with the highest relative CD effect are achieved when the chiral dye is used solely as a director, rather than the structural component. The chiroptical data are further supported by selected spin-filtering measurements using mc-AFM. These findings provide a promising platform for investigating the relationship between the dissymmetry of a supramolecular structure and emerging material properties rather than a comparison between a chiral molecular structure and an achiral counterpart.     

Solvent‐Induced Helical Assembly and Reversible Chiroptical Switching of Chiral Cyclic‐Dipeptide‐Functionalized Naphthalenediimides

Understanding the roles of various parameters in orchestrating the preferential chiral molecular organization in supramolecular self‐assembly processes is of great significance in designing novel molecular functional systems. Cyclic dipeptide (CDP) chiral auxiliary‐functionalized naphthalenediimides (NCDPs 1 – 6 ) have been prepared and their chiral self‐assembly properties have been investigated. Detailed photophysical and circular dichroism (CD) studies have unveiled the crucial role of the solvent in the chiral aggregation of these NCDPs. NCDPs 1 – 3 form supramolecular helical assemblies and exhibit remarkable chiroptical switching behaviour (M‐ to P‐type) depending on the solvent composition of HFIP and DMSO. The strong influence of solvent composition on the supramolecular chirality of NCDPs has been further corroborated by concentration and solid‐state thin‐film CD studies. The chiroptical switching between supramolecular aggregates of opposite helicity (M and P) has been found to be reversible, and can be achieved through cycles of solvent removal and redissolution in solvent mixtures of specific composition. The control molecular systems (NCDPs 4 – 6 ), with an achiral or D ‐isomer second amino acid in the CDP auxiliary, did not show chiral aggregation properties. The substantial roles of hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions in the assembly of the NCDPs have been validated through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), photophysical, and computational studies. Quantum chemical calculations at the ab initio, semiempirical, and density functional theory levels have been performed on model systems to understand the stabilities of the right (P‐) and left (M‐) handed helical supramolecular assemblies and the nature of the intermolecular interactions. This study emphasizes the role of CDP chiral auxiliaries on the solvent‐induced helical assembly and reversible chiroptical switching of naphthalenediimides.     

The fruitful introduction of chirality and control of absolute configurations in molecular magnets

In this critical review, it is shown how the introduction of chirality and the control of the absolute configurations of chiral elements in molecular magnets allow obtaining enantiopure chiral magnets (ECM), an archetype of multifunctional materials. This task has been recognised as a major challenge for both chemists and physicists of molecular magnetism. To reach this goal, the former have combined the rational approaches towards molecular-based magnets and of enantiopure metal-organic frameworks. They have used enantiopure stable radicals, ligands from the chiral pool, enantiopure coligands associated with achiral connectors or enantioselective self-assembly to successfully reach their synthetic targets. They were motivated by the will to obtain suitable systems for the experimental demonstration of the influence of enantiomeric purity on the physico-chemical properties. This influence can be found in the magnetic properties themselves but, most interestingly, in the coexistence and interaction between the properties arising from controlled non-centrosymmetry. Thus the combination of natural circular dichroism, second harmonic generation or ferroelectricity with long-range magnetic ordering can give birth to new properties like magneto-chiral dichroism, magnetisation induced second harmonic generation or multiferroicity. The two former synergetic effects have already been demonstrated in enantiopure chiral magnets. The third one remains a challenging target that can be reached by adapting strategies developed towards enantiopure molecular ferroelectrics (119 references).     

Isolable Chiral Aggregates of Achiral π‐Conjugated Carboxylic Acids

The induced aggregation of achiral building blocks by a chiral species to form chiral aggregates with memorized chirality has been observed for a number of systems. However, chiral memory in isolated aggregates of achiral building blocks remains rare. One possible reason for this discrepancy could be that not much is understood in terms of designing these chiral aggregates. Herein, we report a strategy for creating such isolable chiral aggregates from achiral building blocks that retain chiral memory after the facile physical removal of the chiral templates. This strategy was used for the isolation of chiral homoaggregates of neutral achiral π‐conjugated carboxylic acids in pure aqueous solution. Under what we have termed an “interaction–substitution” mechanism, we generated chiral homoaggregates of a variety of π‐conjugated carboxylic acids by using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a mediator in acidic aqueous solutions. These aggregates were subsequently isolated from the CMC templates whilst retaining their memorized supramolecular chirality. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the aggregates formed in the acidic CMC solution exhibited bisignated exciton‐coupled signals of various signs and intensities that were maintained in the isolated pure homoaggregates of the achiral π‐conjugated carboxylic acids. The memory of the supramolecular chirality in the isolated aggregates was ascribed to the substitution of COOH/COOH hydrogen‐bonding interaction between the carboxylic acid groups within the aggregates for the hydrogen‐bonding interactions between the COOH groups of the building blocks and the chiral templates. We expect that this “interaction–substitution” procedure will open up a new route to isolable pure chiral aggregates from achiral species.     

Optical manipulation with nanoscale chiral fields and related photochemical phenomena

Chiral light-matter interaction occurs when the system consists of the matter and the light has a chiral structure, which is generically called the chiro-optical effect. Circular dichroism and optical rotation are representative spectroscopic methods based on chiro-optical effects. Chiro-optical effects have been widely utilized to detect chiral materials in the system. The chiro-optical effect also has the potential to create chiral materials from achiral materials and chiral optical fields, and to generate chiral optical fields from chiral matter systems. To achieve that, the design and observation of chiral optical field structures are essential. In this article, we describe local chiral optical fields generated in the peripheries of nanomaterials (typically metal nanostructures) irradiated with light. We summarize basic characteristics of nanoscale local chiral optical fields, methods to observe/control the chiral optical field structures at nanomaterials. Then some chemical, optical, and mechanical effects of designed chiral optical fields are described. Chiral nanostructures were created from achiral nanomaterials combined with circularly polarized light. Nucleation of chiral crystals of achiral molecules was achieved by circularly polarized light with the aid of plasmonic materials. Circularly polarized luminescence was observed from achiral fluorescent molecules conjugated with chiral plasmonic nanostructures. On mechanical characteristics, optical forces exerted on chiral materials were found to be dependent on the handedness of incident circularly polarized light, which can be utilized to discriminate the chirality of the material. The concept can be further generalized to the spin-dependent asymmetric light-matter interactions, which will create not only the molecular- and nano-scale chiral structures but also various novel functions of materials that are correlated with the handedness degree of freedom.     

Chiroptical spectroscopy of surfactants

Three different chiroptical spectroscopic methods, namely, optical rotation, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) have been evaluated for studying the aggregation of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), an achiral surfactant, using garcinia acid disodium salt (GADNa) as a chiral probe. The specific rotation and ECD of GADNa are found to be altered by the aggregation of SDS, suggesting for the first time that achiral surfactants can be characterized with chiroptical spectroscopy using appropriate chiral probes. In addition, a chiral compound, fluorenyl methyloxy carbonyl l-leucine sodium salt (FLNa) is found for the first time to behave as a surfactant in water, with 205 ?(2) surface area per molecule at the air-water interface, critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.18 M, and Gibbs energy of micellization of -14 kJ/mol. The specific rotation of FLNa in water is found to increase with concentration beyond CMC, suggesting the formation of chiral aggregates. Different conformations of FLNa amenable to micellization have been identified using quantum chemical conformational analysis and their specific rotations calculated. The formation of lamellar aggregates of FLNa in water is suggested to be the cause for increase in specific rotation with concentration beyond CMC.     

Dynamic chirality, chirality transfer and aggregation behaviour of dithienylethene switches

The synthesis and characterisation of a series of chiral and achiral low molecular weight organogelators (LMWGs) based on bis-amide substituted dithienylethene photochromic switches is reported. The LMWGs gelate a range of solvents depending on the specific functionalisation of the hydrogen bonding amide groups. In mixtures of chiral and achiral LMWGs the stereochemical outcome of the chiral aggregation is determined by the chiral LMWG molecules in most cases. However, for the first time we demonstrate that the stereochemical outcome of the aggregation can be influenced by the achiral LWMG molecules in some cases. Furthermore specific π-π (and/or van der Waals) interactions of chiral LMWGs 1-3o with the solvent allow the solvent to influence the control of chirality of aggregation. This influence of the solvent has a dramatic effect on whether four- or two-gel states are available.     

Self-twisting for macrochirality from an achiral asterisk molecule with fluorescence-phosphorescence dual emission

A self-progressing chiral self-assembly form an achiral and C₆-symmetric molecule, resulting in a chiral amplification with prolonging the time. The system shows three distinct luminescent colors with the change of time in the same solution system.     

Frontispiece: Controlled Self-assembly of Gold(I) Complexes by Multiple Kinetic Aggregation States with Nonlinear Optical and Waveguide Properties

Introduction of multiple kinetic aggregation states (Aggs) into the self-assembly pathway could bring complexity and flexibility to the self-assemblies, which is difficult to realize due to the delicate equilibria established among different Aggs bonded by weak noncovalent interactions. Here, we describe a series of chiral and achiral d¹⁰ Au^I bis(N-heterocyclic carbene, NHC) complexes, and the achiral complex could undergo self-assembly with multiple kinetic Aggs. Generation of multiple kinetic Aggs was realized by applying chiral or achiral seeds exhibiting large differences in elongation temperatures for their respective cooperative self-assembly processes. We further showed that the chiral Au^I self-assemblies having non-centrosymmetric packing forms exhibit nonlinear optical response of second harmonic generation (SHG), while the SHG signal is absent in the achiral analogue. The crystalline achiral Au^I self-assemblies could function as optical waveguides with strong emission polarization.     

Probing enantioselectivity on chirally modified Cu(110), Cu(100), and Cu(111) surfaces

Temperature programmed desorption methods have been used to probe the enantioselectivity of achiral Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) single crystal surfaces modified by chiral organic molecules including amino acids, alcohols, alkoxides, and amino-alcohols. The following combinations of chiral probes and chiral modifiers on Cu surfaces were included in this study: propylene oxide (PO) on L-alanine modified Cu(110), PO on L-alaninol modified Cu(111), PO on 2-butanol modified Cu(111), PO on 2-butoxide modified Cu(100), PO on 2-butoxide modified Cu(111), R-3-methylcyclohexanone (R-3-MCHO) on 2-butoxide modified Cu(100), and R-3-MCHO on 2-butoxide modified Cu(111). In contrast with the fact that these and other chiral probe/modifier systems have exhibited enantioselectivity on Pd(111) and Pt(111) surfaces, none of these probe/modifier/Cu systems exhibit enantioselectivity at either low or high modifier coverages. The nature of the underlying substrate plays a significant role in the mechanism of hydrogen-bonding interactions and could be critical to observing enantioselectivity. While hydrogen-bonding interactions between modifier and probe molecule are believed to induce enantioselectivity on Pd surfaces (Gao, F.; Wang, Y.; Burkholder, L.; Tysoe, W. T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 15240-15249), such critical interactions may be missing on Cu surfaces where hydrogen-bonding interactions are believed to occur between adjacent modifier molecules, enabling them to form clusters or islands.