Helix-Sense-Selective and Enantiomer-Selective Living Polymerization of Phenyl Isocyanide Induced by Reusable Chiral Lactide Using Achiral Palladium Initiator

Polymerization of phenyl isocyanide using achiral Pd(II) initiator with the presence of chiral l- or d-lactide (l-LA or d-LA) as additive was found to proceed in helix-sense-selective manner. The polymerization of achiral phenyl isocyanide, 4-isocyanobenzoyl-2-aminoisobutyric acid decyl ester (1) by this method produced optically active helical poly-1m(L), whose chirality was solely come from the helical conformation without containing of any other chiral atoms. The added chiral LA can be facilely recovered and reused in the helix-sense-selective polymerizations without significantly loss of its chiral induction, and the chiral economy of the polymerization is high. When enantiomerically pure phenyl isocyanide bearing an R- or S-alanine pendent with a long n-decyl chain (1r or 1s) were polymerized by this method, the polymerization was found to proceed in a highly enantiomer-selective manner with one of the enantiomers preferentially polymerized over the antipode by a factor of 3.6. Single-handed helical polyisocyanides can be achieved when the chirality of the monomer was appropriately matched with the added LA.