Multistate Aggregation-Induced Chiroptical Properties of Enantiopure Disulfide-Mediated BisPyrene Macrocycles

A chiral bispyrene macrocycle designed for exclusive intermolecular excimer fluorescence upon aggregation was synthesized by a double hydrothiolation of a bis enol ether macrocycle followed by intramolecular oxidation of free thiols. Unusually high stereoselectivity was achieved for the thiol-ene additions under templated conditions and Et3B/O2 radical initiation. After enantiomer separation (chiral stationary phase HPLC), aqueous conditions provoked aggregation. Detailed structural evolution was afforded by ECD/CPL monitoring. Three regimes can be observed and characterized by strong modifications in chiroptical patterns under, at, or above a 70% H2O:THF threshold. In luminescence, high glum dissymmetry factors values were obtained, up to 0.022, as well as a double sign inversion of CPL signals during the aggregation, a behavior rationalized by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. Langmuir layers of enantiopure disulfide macrocycles were formed at the air-water interface and transferred onto solid substrates to afford Langmuir-Blodgett films, which were then studied by AFM and UV/ECD/fluorescence/CPL.