Synthesis Amphiphilic One-Handed Helical Ladder Polymers with Circularly Polarized Luminescence

Helical ladder polymers attract attention because of their well-defined, one-handed helical ladder structures and unique properties, which differ from precursor polymers that have random-coil conformations. However, the synthesis of helical ladder polymers is difficult and inhibits their functions a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ziheng Pan, Wei Zheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Molecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/12/2606
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Summary:Helical ladder polymers attract attention because of their well-defined, one-handed helical ladder structures and unique properties, which differ from precursor polymers that have random-coil conformations. However, the synthesis of helical ladder polymers is difficult and inhibits their functions and applications. In this study, we reported the synthesis of amphiphilic optically active 2,2′-tethered binaphthyl-embedded helical ladder polymers carrying hydrophilic oligo (ethylene glycol) (OEG) as side chains through quantitative and chemoselective acid-promoted intramolecular cyclization of random-coil precursor polymers. The obtained helical ladder polymers exhibited dramatic circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) enhancement. Moreover, we further established a circularly polarized fluorescence-energy transfer (CPF-ET) strategy in which the helical ladder polymers work as a donor, emitting circularly polarized fluorescence to excite an achiral fluorophore (coumarin-6) as the acceptor, producing green CPL with luminescence dissymmetry factor (2.5 × 10<sup>−4</sup>).
ISSN:1420-3049