Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.130, No.1, 229-236, 2008
Two- and three-dimensional smectic ordering of single-handed helical polymers
Rodlike polymers with precisely defined architectures are ideal building blocks for self-assembled structures leading to novel nanometer-scale devices. We found that the living polymerization of a single isocyanide enantiomer bearing an L-alanine pendant with a long n-decyl chain simultaneously produced diastereomeric right- and left-handed helices with different molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. Each single-handed, rodlike helical polymer with a controlled length and handedness isolated by a facile solvent fractionation method with acetone self-assembled to form well-defined two- and three-dimensional smectic ordering on the nanometer scale on a substrate and in a liquid crystalline state as evidenced by direct atomic force microscopic observations and X-ray diffraction measurements, respectively.