AIE-Active Chiral [3]Rotaxanes with Switchable Circularly Polarized Luminescence

The construction of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) switches with multiple switchable emission states and high dissymmetry factors (g(lum)) has attracted increasing attention due to their broad applications in diverse fields such as the development of smart devices and sensors. Herein, a new family of AIE-active chiral [3]rotaxanes were designed and synthesized, from which a novel CPL switching system was successfully constructed. The switching process was realized through the controlled motions of the chiral pillar[5]arene macrocycles along the axle through the addition or removal of the acetate anions, which not only modulated the chirality information transfer but also tuned the aggregations of the integrated [3]rotaxanes, thus resulting in reversible transformations between two emission states with both high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) and high dissymmetry factors (g(lum)) values.

Automated summary

A new family of AIE-active chiral [3]rotaxanes were designed and synthesized, with a novel CPL switching system successfully constructed by controlling the motions of the chiral pillar[5]arene macrocycles along the axle through the addition or removal of acetate anions. This resulted in reversible transformations between two emission states with high PLQYs and g(lum) values.