Supramolecular helical mesomorphic polymers. Chiral induction through H-bonding.

The work described here concerns a challenge of general interest in supramolecular chemistry: the achievement of chiral helical organizations with controlled structures. This work provides a strategy to obtain supramolecular polymers in which a chiral helical conformation has been induced by a noncovalent association, that is, through hydrogen bonding. Polycatenar 2,4,6-triarylamino-1,3,5-triazines, which organize into columnar mesophases and are susceptible to H-bonding interactions, were chosen as a starting point to build up the chiral supramolecular structure. The stacking of these mesogens has been forced to wind in a helical way by means of H-bond association with (R)-3-methyladipic acid, within the mesophase. The optically active columnar organization has been studied in depth by optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction, and circular dichroism. Formation of stable complexes between the triazine units and (R)-3-methyladipic acid has also been investigated by means of NMR diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments in chloroform.