Chiral-at-Cage Carboranes for Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Aggregation-Induced Electrochemiluminescence

Herein, we report the structures of chiral-at-cage carborane derivatives bearing carbazole chromophores that emit circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) and aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL). By adjusting the substituent positions on the carborane derivatives, two chiral luminescent molecules, Cb1 and Cb2, with different properties were obtained. The photoluminescence dissymmetry factors |g_PL | of both (R/S)-Cb1 and (R/S)-Cb2 enantiomers in neat films were as high as 6.24×10^-3 and 7.38×10^-3 , respectively. Cb1 showed a deep blue emission peak at 434 nm in n-pentane. Interestingly, distinct fluorescence and CPL spectra were observed in solvents of different polarities due to the twisted intramolecular charge transfer effect, suggesting its potential use in solvent recognition. Meanwhile, Cb2 exhibited good AIECL property, excellent ECL stability and could be used for determining dopamine concentrations, suggesting its potential applications in biology and diagnosis.