Chirality induction by formation of assembled structures based on anion-responsive π-conjugated molecules.

Anion-responsive π-conjugated compounds having chiral alkyl chains were synthesized. Circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) were observed in the solution-state assemblies of the chiral anion receptors and those of their anion complexes as salts of a planar triazatriangulenium cation. The CD and CPL spectral patterns of the ion-pair-based assemblies were completely opposite to those of the anion-free assemblies, and this suggests that anion binding and subsequent ion pairing change the chirality of the assembly modes.