Photocyclization‐Induced Emission Enhancement and Circularly Polarized Luminescence Inversion of Achiral Emitters in Co‐Assembled Gels

Abstract

Precisely controlling the circularly polarized emission of achiral organic luminescent molecules in an aggregated state is a remaining challenge in this research field, since it should simultaneously overcome the ubiquitous issues of chirality transfer and aggregation‐caused quenching occurring in the aggregated systems. Herein, a facile and universal approach to achieving assembly‐accelerated photocyclization and photocyclization‐enhanced emission of tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivative in the gel state is reported. This experimental data reveal that the co‐assembled gels exhibit high efficiency of photocyclization (≥100 times more efficient than the TPE‐based derivative in solution) via the hydrogen‐bonding‐driven helical assembly, displaying sharply enhanced emission (with the maximum enhancement of 105 times) after the photocyclization and oxidation under ultraviolet irradiation. Furthermore, inverted circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) is achieved after the photocyclization of TPE‐based gels. The strategy of assembly‐enhanced emission and photomodulated CPL inversion of fluorescent organic systems in the aggregated state can increase the abundance of chiral luminescent soft matters, leading to versatile applications in organic chiroptical optoelectronics and smart flexible displaying devices.