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Updated: Oct 25, 2026

Efficient Construction of Drug-like Bispirocyclic Scaffolds Via Organocatalytic Cycloadditions of α-Imino γ-Lactones and Alkylidene Pyrazolones
Published on: February 7, 2019
Cinchonidine vs Cinchonine: Stereochemical Control of Architecture and Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Chiral
Ting Zhao1,2, Mianhe Xu1,2, Zehong Wang1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian350002, China.
Abstract:
Employing the epimeric ligands, cinchonidine (L1) and cinchonine (L2), two chiral Cu(I) coordination polymers were synthesized: a 1D chain Cu4I4(L1) and a 3D framework Cu4I4(L2). Structural analyses reveal that Cu4I4(L1) incorporates interconnected distorted gyroscope-like and cubane-type Cu4I4 clusters, whereas Cu4I4(L2) comprises solely cubane-type Cu4I4 clusters. This architectural divergence could be attributed to the distinct spatial preferences of the two N-donor atoms in the epimeric ligands. Photoluminescence studies show that Cu4I4(L1) emits orange light with a single broad band (λem = 614 nm, ΦPL = 21.03%), while Cu4I4(L2) displays yellow emission consisting of multiple bands (λem = 575 nm, ΦPL = 1.32%). DFT calculations correlate these differences to the variations in frontier orbital distributions and electronic transition pathways. Notably, the two compounds exhibit distinct circularly polarized luminescence with maximum glum values of +6.1 × 10-3 for Cu4I4(L1) and -2.4 × 10-3 for Cu4I4(L2). This work illustrates how subtle stereochemical differences in epimeric ligands direct the structural self-assembly of chiral Cu(I)-cluster-based coordination polymers, thereby tuning their photophysical and chiroptical properties, and provides a valuable guideline for designing CPL-active Cu(I)-cluster-based materials.
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