Advanced Functional Materials, Vol.24, No.39, 6166-6171, 2014
Helicity Control of pi-Stacked Assemblies of Oligo(para-phenylene) Derivatives Using Photoresponsive Chiral Moieties at Terminal Sites
Oligo(para-phenylene) (OPP) derivatives bearing photoresponsive chiral dithienylethene (DE*) terminal moieties that induce chirality in the OPP main chain are synthesized. In the assembled state, the photoisomerization of the chiral DE* terminal moieties prior to assembly, from the open to the closed form, leads to a change in the helicity of the -stacked structures. The circular dichroism spectra of mixed solvent solutions and cast films of the OPP assemblies exhibit bisignate Cotton effects in the absorption region associated with the oligomer main chain: these features indicate the presence of helically -stacked structures. Furthermore, the chiral transcription of racemic poly(bithiophenethiophene) (PBTT) by chiral OPP in the assembled state is demonstrated. The chirally transcribed PBTT shows a change in helicity upon the photoisomerization of the chiral DE* terminal moieties of OPP. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of helicity control of a helically -stacked conjugated oligomer through the photoisomerization of a chiral photoresponsive moiety. Such assemblies could be attractive for use in optoelectronic devices and optical memory systems.