Supramolecular Capsules and Cages for Circularly Polarized Luminescence – SupraCPL

During the last decades, extensive work focused on the design of molecular systems displaying circularly polarised luminescence (CPL). A chiral light emitter shows different right- and left-handed circularly polarised emission which gives birth to CPL. CPL is key for the enhancement of CP-OLED screen brightness and was pointed as promising for bio-imaging. Therefore, designing systems displaying strong CPL emission and harnessing the produced CPL in devices applications are challenges that we aim to overcome.
SupraCPL is a multidisciplinary project aiming at inducing or enhancing the CPL response of 3d complexes by a supramolecular approach. We will develop an innovative strategy, combining coordination complex emitters with chiral supramolecular environment to (i) induce CPL from an achiral chromophore (Cu(I), Cr(III)), or (ii) enhance CPL of chromium(III) chiral complexes showing record CPL for non-lanthanides. The originality of our approach comes from the chiral environment that will be provided by self-assembled capsules or cages structures enabling large effects and dynamic responses. First we plan to use emitting complexes as guests in chiral resorcin[4]arene or pyrogallol[4]arene hexameric self-assembled capsules. Then more complexity will be implemented using Cr(III) complexes as vertices of tetrahedral M4L6 cages. The latter cages are interesting platforms to be combined with CPL outcome for probing or controlling encapsulation by lock/unlock redox input. Therefore, we will finally implement NIR-CPL outcome in versatile applications inherent to cages architectures.
To summarise, SupraCPL is an ambitious but realistic project that aim at generating or enhancing CPL in achiral or promising chiral emitters owing to supramolecular environment provided by capsules and cages. The strong CPL arising from this strategy will be valorised imputing CPL as new output in the molecular cages application fields like probing, substrate delivery or multicomponent dynamic systems.