Pre‐Crosslinked Network‐Mediated Dual Exchange Enables Boosting Chiroptical Activity and Decoupled Two‐Level Chirality in Covalent Organic Frameworks

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Authors: Xinlin Zha, Mengjuan Zuo, Zhenzhen Jiang, Qian Zou, Yue Xin, Yi Xiong, Ying Liu, Liu Liu, Mengying Luo, Mufang Li, Dong Wang
Cited by: 1
References: 46

Abstract

ABSTRACT The construction of crystalline covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with strong and tunable chiroptical responses remains challenging due to rapid crystallization that limits effective chirality induction. Here, we report a pre‐crosslinked network‐mediated dual‐exchange strategy that enables both amplified chiroptical activity and decoupled multilevel chirality in β‐ketoenamine‐linked COFs. In this approach, monomers are first immobilized within a pre‐crosslinked amorphous imine network, which kinetically regulates subsequent framework formation. The crystallization proceeds through a dual‐exchange process involving concurrent amine and aldehyde exchange, thereby retarding reaction kinetics and prolonging the chirality induction window. As a result, the obtained COFs exhibit pronounced propeller‐like conformational chirality with dissymmetry factors (| g abs |) up to 0.071, representing an order‐of‐magnitude enhancement over conventional systems. Furthermore, by integrating supramolecular transcription, mesoscopic helicity and molecular chirality are decoupled and independently incorporated within a single framework. Their cooperative or antagonistic interplay leads to enhanced or attenuated chiroptical responses. This work provides a general strategy for boosting chiroptical activity and programming multilevel chirality in crystalline frameworks.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Covalent Organic Framework Applications Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications

Publication details

Journal / source
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
65
Issue
35
Pages
e8909722–e8909722
Publication date
26 June 2026
Language
EN