In Situ
Measurement of the Supramolecular Chirality
in the Langmuir Monolayers of Achiral Porphyrins at the Air/Aqueous
Interface by Second Harmonic
Generation Linear Dichroism
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Abstract
Chiral porphyrin assemblies are promising
molecular materials because
they possess unique biological compatibility and excellent electronic
properties. Metal ions can strongly affect the formation of supramolecular
chirality. In this paper, we investigated the effect of metal ions
in the subphase on the supramolecular chirality of a porphyrin derivative
with two long hydrophobic chains (TPPA2a) at the air/aqueous interfaces
by means of second harmonic generation linear dichroism (SHG-LD).
It was found that TPPA2a can form chiral assemblies at the air/aqueous
interface even though the molecule itself is achiral. Furthermore,
metal ions added into the subphase have a considerable effect on the
interfacial supramolecular chirality: Zn<sup>2+</sup> inhibits the
formation of supramolecular chirality, while Cu<sup>2+</sup> promotes
the formation. We suggest that the effect of metal ions on the supramolecular
chirality is due to the coordination between the metal ions and TPPA2a
molecules. To clarify the coordination mechanism, we also performed
UV–vis measurements of TPPA2a Langmuir–Blodgett (LB)
films and SHG-LD experiments on TPPA4, which is similar to TPPA2a
but without ester groups. These results revealed that the metal ions
did not interact with the central nitrogen of porphyrin rings, while
the coordination between metal ions and the ester groups possibly
affects the supramolecular chirality. This is a novel mechanism involving
coordination between metal cations and side chains of porphyrin derivatives,
and it may provide a deeper understanding of the supramolecular chirality
of porphyrin assemblies