Saccharide-Functionalized Poly(Zn-salphen)-alt-(m- and p-phenyleneethynylene)s as Dynamic Helical Metallopolymers

Chao Zhao; Shuangshuang Meng; Hei-Nga Chan; Xueli Wang; Hung-Wing Li; Michael C W Chan

doi:10.1002/anie.202115712

Saccharide-Functionalized Poly(Zn-salphen)-alt-(m- and p-phenyleneethynylene)s as Dynamic Helical Metallopolymers

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Feb 21;61(9):e202115712. doi: 10.1002/anie.202115712. Epub 2022 Jan 17.

Authors

Chao Zhao¹, Shuangshuang Meng¹, Hei-Nga Chan², Xueli Wang³, Hung-Wing Li², Michael C W Chan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² Department of Chemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.
³ Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.

PMID: 34968004
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202115712

Abstract

The study of metallopolymers with controllable helical sense remains in its infancy. We report arabinose-functionalized (Zn-salphen)-based conjugated polymers that display mirror-image circular dichroism spectra for L- and D-sugar sidechains respectively, signifying ordered (helical) coiling of the polymer backbone with opposite screw-sense preferences. The observation of different spectroscopic behavior and Cotton effects for a variety of solvents (in a reversible manner) and temperatures, ascribed to changes in the extent of intrachain (Zn⋅⋅⋅O(salphen) and π-stacking) interactions between Zn-salphen moieties, thus indicate the flexible, responsive and dynamic nature of the folded helical conformation in these systems. An application study signifying that activity can be governed by the structure and helical sense of the polymer is described.

Keywords: Helical Structures; Metallopolymers; Optical Activity; Schiff Bases; Zinc.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't