Helicity induction on a poly(phenylacetylene) bearing a phosphonate residue by chiral dendrons

A series of optically active dendrons with a primary amino group at the terminal were prepared from L‐ or D‐glutamic acid, and their helicity induction abilities for a poly(phenylacetylene) bearing a phosphonate pendant were characterized with ultraviolet–visible and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The magnitude of the Cotton effects of the polymer induced by the dendrons significantly increased upon complexation with a higher generation dendron. The effect of the chirality of the glutamate residues (L and D) on the helicity induction was also studied. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4580–4586, 2004 A series of optically active, first‐ and second‐generation dendrons with a primary amino group at the terminal were prepared from L‐ or D‐glutamic acid, and their helicity induction abilities for a poly(phenylacetylene) bearing a phosphonate pendant were investigated with ultraviolet–visible and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The magnitude of the Cotton effects of the polymer induced by the dendrons significantly increased upon complexation with a higher generation dendron. The Cotton effect signs depended on the configuration of the interior glutamate of the dendrons and were independent of the exterior glutamate configuration.