Circularly polarized luminescence based on columnar self-assembly of tetraphenylethylene with multiple cholesterol units.

Abstract The influence of different states of AIE derivative with columnar liquid crystalline phase on circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) was investigated in this work. Two novel tetraphenylethylene derivatives with multiple cholesterol units (TPE-C and TPE-SC) were prepared. They exhibited enantiotropic liquid crystalline behaviours with the ordered hexagonal columnar mesophase. They possessed excellent AIE properties in H 2 O-THF system. The fluorescence quantum yields of TPE-C and TPE-SC at solid state were as high as 28.8% and 22.6%, respectively. The chiral transfer from cholesterol units to TPE cores was confirmed by CD spectra. The studies on CPL spectra suggested that their CPL behaviors were tuned by the different states. They showed weak CPL properties at solid and isotropic state but strong CPL luminescence at liquid crystalline phase based on the orderly columnar self-assembly. The g lum of TPE-SC at liquid crystalline phase reached 8.83 × 10−2. Highlights • Novel tetraphenylethylene AIE derivatives (TPE-C and TPE-SC) with columnar liquid crystalline mesophases were prepared. • They possess hexagonal columnar mesophases. • The chirality of cholesterol units was transferred to TPE cores. • The CPL properties varied with different states of liquid crystalline AIE materials were firstly studied. • The g lum of TPE-SC at mesophase is as high as 8.83 × 10−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]