Chirality Remote Control in Nanoporous Materials by Circularly Polarized Light

The ability to dynamically control chirality remains a grand challenge in chemistry. Although many molecules possess chiral isomers, lacking their isolation, for instance during photoisomerization, results racemic mixtures with suppressed enantiospecific properties. Here, we present nanoporous solid which and enantioselective enrichment is induced by circularly polarized light (CPL). material based on photoswitchable fluorinated azobenzenes attached the scaffold of crystalline metal-organic framework (MOF). azobenzene undergoes trans-to-cis-photoisomerization upon irradiation green reverts back trans violet light. While each moiety cis conformation chiral, show isomer also possesses nonplanar, conformation. During photoisomerization unpolarized light, no enantiomeric observed both R- S-cis as well S-trans, respectively, are formed identical quantities. In contrast, CPL causes photoresolution, resulting an optically active material. Right-CPL selectively excites R-cis R-trans enantiomers, producing MOF enriched S-enantiomers, vice versa. induction optical activity reversible only depends light-handedness. As shown first-principle DFT calculations, while both, cis, stabilized conformations MOF, adopts planar, achiral form solution, verified experimentally. This shows that photoresolution enabled linker reticulation MOF. Our study demonstrates materials opens new opportunities resolution information storage CPL.