Ditopic Chiral Pineno-Fused 2,2′:6′,2-Terpyridine: Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Optical Properties

The syntheses of 4'-substituted chiral 2,2':6',2 ''-terpyridine (tpy) ligands with predetermined configurations and directionalities are rather limited in the supramolecular chemistry field. In this study, a carbazole-linked ditopic chiral ligand L was synthesized using 4'-bromo-substituted pineno-fused tpy 5 as the precursor. Upon complexation with Cd(NO3)(2)center dot 4H(2)O and Zn-(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O, two enantiomerically pure metallosupra-molecules, [Cd3L3] and [Zn4L4], have been self-assembled and characterized by NMR, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, traveling wave ion mobility-mass spectrometry, and DOSY analysis. In addition, their optical properties are characterized by UV-vis, fluorescence, circular dichroism, and circularly polarized luminescence, suggesting an efficiency transmission and amplification of chirality from the ligand to metal center via self-assembly.