Integration of inherent and induced chirality into subphthalocyanine analogue

Conventional conjugated systems are characteristic of only either inherent or induced chirality because of synthetic challenge in combination of chiral segment into the main chromophore. In this work, chiral binaphthyl segment is directly fused into the central chromophore of a subphthalocyanine skeleton, resulting in a novel type of chiral subphthalocyanine analogue (R/S)-1 of integrated inherent and induced chirality. Impressively, an obviously enhanced optical activity is discerned for (R/S)-1 molecules, and corresponding enhancement mechanism is elucidated in detail. The synthesis strategy based on rational molecular design will open the door towards fabrication of chiral materials with giant optical activity, which will have great potential in chiroptical devices.