Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Materials Science Graduate Program, and Brain Health Research Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Aug 2;60(32):17344-17349. doi: 10.1002/anie.202105357. Epub 2021 Jun 7.
The vast majority of nanomaterials studied in light of their ability to transmit chirality to or amplify their chirality in a surrounding medium, constitute an achiral core with chirality solely installed at the surface by conjugation or encapsulation with optically active ligands. Here we present the inverse approach focusing on surface-modified cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with core chirality at both the molecular and the morphological level to quantify transmission and amplification of core chirality through space using a host nematic liquid crystal (N-LC) as reporter. We find that CNCs functionalized at the surface with achiral molecules, structurally related to the N-LC, exhibit better N-LC solubility, thereby serving as highly efficient chiral inducers. Moreover, functionalization with chiral molecules only marginally enhances the efficacy of helical distortion in the host N-LC matrix, indicating the high propensity of CNCs to transfer chirality from an inherently chiral core.
绝大多数研究的纳米材料都因其能够在周围介质中传递手性或放大手性而受到关注，这些纳米材料构成了一个无手性的核心，其手性仅通过与光学活性配体的共轭或封装而在表面安装。在这里，我们提出了一种相反的方法，重点研究了具有分子和形态水平核心手性的表面修饰纤维素纳米晶体（CNCs），以使用作为报告器的主体向列液晶（N-LC）来定量通过空间传输和放大核心手性。我们发现，用与 N-LC 在结构上相关的非手性分子表面功能化的 CNCs 表现出更好的 N-LC 溶解度，从而成为高效的手性诱导剂。此外，用手性分子进行功能化仅略微增强了主体 N-LC 基质中螺旋扭曲的效果，表明 CNCs 从固有手性核心传递手性的高倾向。
