Inspired by the exquisite helices in Nature, fabrication of helical materials with controlled handedness has attracted considerable attention. Herein, we report on precis synthesis of single left- and right-handed helical polyisocyanides through living polymerization of achiral monomers using chiral palladium catalysts under helix-sense-selective manner. Mechanism study revealed that the yielded helices with opposite handedness showed different activity of the living chain end. The helix with unfavored handedness was self-terminated, while the one with favored handedness showed high activity and could undergo chain propagation to form a high molecular weight polymer with maintained single-handed helicity.
Keywords: chiral polymers; helix; helix-sense-selective polymerization; living polymerization; polymers.
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