Supramolecular Chirality in Self-Assembled Soft Materials: Regulation of Chiral Nanostructures and Chiral Functions

Abstract

Supramolecular chirality, which arises from the nonsymmetric spatial arrangement of components in the self-assembly systems, has gained great attention owing to its relation to the natural biological structures and the possible new functions in advanced materials. During the self-assembling process, both chiral and achiral components are possible to form chiral nanostructures. Therefore, it becomes an important issue how to fabricate these molecular components into chiral nanostructures. Furthermore, once the chiral nanostructure is obtained, will it show new functions that simple component molecule could not? In this research news, we report our recent development in the regulation of chiral nanostructures in soft gels or vesicle materials. We have further developed several new functions pertaining to the soft gel materials, which single chiral molecules could not perform, such as the chiroptical switch, chiral recognition and the asymmetry catalysis. The regulation of the supramolecular chirality and chiral nanostructures in selfassembled soft materials such as gels is discussed. New functions emerging from these chiral nanostructures, such as supramolecular chiral recognition, chiroptical switching, and asymmetric catalysis, which the component chiral molecules cannot perform, are introduced.