Chiral Helical Polymer Nanomaterials with Tunable Morphology: Prepared with Chiral Solvent To Induce Helix-Sense-Selective Precipitation Polymerization

We report an unprecedented strategy for using achiral monomer to construct chiral helical polymer nanomaterials with tunable morphology—helix-sense-selective precipitation polymerization induced by a chiral solvent (HSSPP-CS). CHCl3, chiral α-pinene, and an alkanol were employed to constitute a solvent mixture for performing HSSPP-CS. (R)- or (S)-α-pinene worked as chiral source and transferred its chirality to the resulting helical polyacetylenes derived from achiral monomer in the course of polymerization, thereby forming chiral helical polymers and endowing the nanomaterials thereof with optical activity. Simply changing solvent composition provided chiral polymer products varying in morphology from fibrous to rod-like and finally to spherical morphology. This is the first report dealing with chirality transfer from chiral solvent to induce helix-sense-selective precipitation polymerizations. The study establishes a straightforward and effective alternative for making use of achiral monomers to construct chiral helical polymer nanomaterials with diverse morphology.