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)2·4H2O and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, two enantiomerically pure metallosupramolecules, [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.