Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Liquid Crystalline Phase of platinum(II)-Based Bent-Shaped Achiral Metallomesogens.

Achiral molecules can generate supramolecular chirality through spontaneous symmetry breaking during molecular assembly, offering new insights into the origin of molecular homochirality and the design of advanced chiral materials. Herein we report the design and synthesis of bent-core achiral platinum(II) complexes using phenylpyridine (ppy) derivatives as the cyclometalated ligand and acetylacetone (acac) as the auxiliary ligand. The liquid crystal properties and self-assembly behavior could be modulated by altering the type and number of substituents on the biphenyl unit. Spontaneous symmetry breaking in the liquid crystal phase can be detected first in a quenched liquid crystal film. These complexes demonstrate efficient circularly polarized phosphorescence, with the luminescence asymmetry factor () reaching the order of 10. This work offers further insights into the development of novel systems for spontaneous symmetry breaking and demonstrates a distinctive approach to creating optically active materials derived from achiral platinum(II)-based metallomesogens.