Tricks of light on helices: transformation of helical polymers by photoirradiation

The following polymer structural transitions were achieved using light: preferred-handed helix formation for poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluoren-2,7-diyl), helix racemization (helix-helix transition) for poly(2,7-bis(4-t-butylphenyl)fluoren-9-yl acrylate) and poly(2,5-bis[4-((S)-2-methylbutyloxy)phenyl]styrene), and helix decomposition for poly(2,7-bis(4-t-butylphenyl)-9-methylfluoren-9-yl acrylate) and poly(2,7-bis(4-t-butylphenyl)fluoren-9-ylmethyl methacrylate). Although these types of transitions and chemical transformations have been studied mainly using heat or chemicals as stimuli, light can also cause these structural alterations. In the helix construction and the helix-helix transition, a key transition is a twist-coplanar conformational change of a biphenyl or an aryl-aryl unit in the side chain or the main chain of the polymer. Furthermore, the helix-helix transition was caused only by light and not by heat. The examples discussed in this review are expected to trigger off a new direction in synthesis and reaction of chiral polymers.