Supramolecular chiroptical sensing of chiral species based on circularly polarized luminescence

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) refers to the differentiation of the left-handed and right-handed emissions of chiral systems in the excited state. Serving as an alternative characterization method to circular dichroism (CD), CPL can detect changes in fluorescence in a chiral system, which could be more efficient in recognizing chiral species. Although CPL can be generated by attaching luminophores to a chiral unit through a covalent bond, the non-covalent bonding of fluorescent chromophores with chiral species or helical nanostructures can also induce CPL and their changes. Thus, CPL can be used as an alternative detection technique for sensing chiral species. In this review, we summarize typical recent advances in chirality sensing based on CPL. The determination of the absolute configuration of chiral compounds and encrypted sensing is also discussed. We hope to provide useful and powerful insights into the construction of chemical sensors based on CPL.