Dynamic Control of a Multistate Chiral Supramolecular Polymer in Water

Natural systems transfer chiral information across multiple lengthscales through dynamic supramolecular interaction to accomplish various functions.Inspired by nature, many exquisite artificial supramolecular systems have beendeveloped, in which controlling the supramolecular chirality holds the key tocompleting specific tasks. However, to achieve precise and non-invasive control andmodulation of chirality in these systems remains challenging. As a non-invasivestimulus, light can be used to remotely control the chirality with high spatiotemporalprecision. In contrast to common molecular switches, a synthetic molecular motor canact as a multistate chiroptical switch with unidirectional rotation, offering majorpotential to regulate more complex functions. Here, we present a light-drivenmolecular motor-based supramolecular polymer, in which the intrinsic chirality istransferred to the nanofibers, and the rotation of molecular motors governs thechirality and morphology of the supramolecular polymer. The resulting supra-molecular polymer also exhibits light-controlled multistate aggregation-inducedemission. Thesefindings present a photochemically tunable multistate dynamic supramolecular system in water and pave theway for developing molecular motor-driven chiroptical materials.