Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: January 10, 2017
Single cellulose nanocrystal rod-templated right-handed imine-linked covalent organic frameworks for enantioselective
Wenxin Zhang1, Yuyu Zhang1, Jianhong Wu1
1Hubei Key Laboratory for Clean Recycling and Resource Utilization of Waste Fibers, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan Textile University Wuhan 430200 P. R. China fszhang@wtu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Chiral materials from cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) usually derive from left-handed helical organization formed by collective self-assembly, while the direct transfer of the intrinsic right-handed chirality of individual CNC nanorods into well-defined hybrid architectures remains largely unexplored. Elucidating this chirality transfer process is essential for understanding the multihierarchical chirality transcription of cellulose. Herein, we present an interfacially confined Schiff-base polymerization that uses single right-handed CNC rods as chiral templates to fabricate core-shell CNC@covalent organic framework (COF) hybrids. Electrostatic enrichment of protonated amine monomers and subsequent acid-catalyzed confined condensation at the CNC-water interface directs the oriented growth of an imine-linked COF shell, effectively transcribing the single-rod chirality into a supramolecular helical organization with amplified chiroptical activity. The resulting hybrid retains the right-handed chiroptical response derived from the CNC template and exhibits a significantly enhanced Cotton effect, achieving a g abs of -6.23 × 10-3. Moreover, the chiral confined porous microenvironment enables enantioselective adsorption of ofloxacin, affording capacities of 8.22 mg g-1 for S-ofloxacin and 3.03 mg g-1 for R-ofloxacin, whereas the corresponding pristine COF is nearly nonselective. This work establishes a strategy for transforming intrinsic nanoscale chirality into functional hybrid materials and provides a platform for designing chiral porous materials for recognition, separation, and advanced photonic applications.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Prochirality
Naming Enantiomers

