Enhanced Chirality Transfer in Self-Assembled Nanocomposites Powered by A Trace Amount of Chiral Dimeric Molecules

Chiral-selective self-assembly has markedly advanced the development of chiral materials. While the Sergeant and Soldiers principle allows for chirality amplification, it necessitates precise shape-matching between chiral and achiral molecules, leading to a low chirality transfer efficiency-where one chiral molecule influences the chirality of a limited number of achiral molecules. Here, we show that this efficiency can be markedly enhanced by introducing chiral dimeric molecules. In this work, a single chiral molecule can control the chirality of up to 200 achiral molecules and even direct the assembly of inorganic nanoparticles into chiral nanocomposites through a sequential chirality transfer process. Moreover, this approach exhibits remarkable robustness, operating effectively without necessitating a precise match between chiral and achiral molecules. Consequently, using the same chiral molecules at an exceptionally low molar fraction (0.5 mol %) allows for the chiral-selective assembly of achiral molecules over a broad spectrum, regardless of their packing habits, thus facilitating the creation of otherwise inaccessible chiral materials with modulated chiroptical properties. Last but not least, even a trace amount of chiral molecules can enhance the elastic modulus of the self-assembled nanocomposites by a factor of eight.