Syntheses and enantioselective recognition of chiral poly(phenyleneethynylene)s bearing bulky optically active menthyl groups

Two optically active poly(menthoxycarbonylphenyleneethynylene)s were synthesized by polycondensation using a palladium–copper catalyst system. All polymers showed Cotton effects in the absorption region of the main chain, implying that chirality is induced to the main chain. Moreover, these chiral polymers showed the enantioselective recognition ability for chiral menthol in the circular dichroism (CD) spectra.