Prof.  Wenjing  Tian
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University,  China

Title: Self-assembled CPL Aggregates based on 9,10-distyrylanthracene derivatives

Abstract:

Forming long-range ordered micro-/nanostructures through self-assembly is a widely used strategy to achieve chirality amplification in circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials. Meanwhile, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules provide a new approach to overcome the low fluorescence quantum efficiency commonly observed in aggregated states. However, due to their intrinsically twisted molecular conformations, most AIE molecules do not easily form π–π stacking structures, and the regulation of their properties as well as the investigation of the underlying mechanisms remain challenging. Based on our previous work, ^[1-3] we selected the 9,10-distyrylanthracene (DSA) structural unit for molecular modification. Under aqueous solvent assembly conditions, equivalent hydrophilic–hydrophobic interactions were introduced on both sides of the molecule, and a DSA-centered CPL system was successfully constructed through a “clamping-embedding” strategy. The system not only exhibits relatively excellent chiral and luminescent properties, but is also strongly influenced by the solvent environment. By varying the water fraction, significant CPL amplification as well as multiple signal inversions can be observed. Morphological characterization and single-crystal structure analysis indicate that such variability most likely originates from differences in the assembled structures under different environments, namely variations in intermolecular interactions. In addition, in a water-free tetrahydrofuran/methanol system, the molecule can also form assemblies with diverse morphologies by tuning the solvent ratio, leading to distinct CPL emissions. This work provides valuable insights for expanding the AIE molecular platform for CPL materials, constructing new intelligent chiral luminescent systems, and understanding the mechanism of chirality generation and amplification in aggregated states.^[4]

[1] Feng. J, Gu. Z et al. 2021 J. Phys. Chem. C, 125, 21270.

[2] Gu. Z, Ma. W et al. 2023 Macromol. Rapid Commun., 44, 2300428.

[3] Gu. Z, Ma. W et al. 2023 J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 14, 6437.

[4] Wang. M, Song. Y et al. 2026 Chem. Commun., 62, 3334.

Biography:

Wenjing Tian is currently a professor in College of Chemistry at Jilin University. She received her bachelor's degree in Physics at Jilin University in 1988 and Ph.D. in Polymer Physics at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1993. She later worked as a postdoc in Jilin University collaborating with Prof. Jiacong Shen. In January 1996, she joined Jilin University and launched her own research group. She has been engaged in organic polymer material science research for a long time, and has made important innovative achievements in the fields of organic polymer opto-electronic functional materials. She has published more than 290 papers in SCI journals, cited more than 7,000 times, and obtained 11 Chinese invention patents. She has presided over a number of key/surface projects of the National Nature Foundation. In 2002, as the main participant, the project "Basic Research on new organic electroluminescent materials" won the first prize of Natural Science Award in universities of the Ministry of Education; in 2014, the project "Basic Research on organic polymer optoelectronic functional materials" won the first prize of Natural Science Award of Jilin Province Science and Technology Award.