Solvent-controlled sign inversion of circularly polarized luminescent binaphthylacetic acid derivative

[Display omitted] •Spectroscopic properties of axially chiral binaphthylacetic acid were investigated.•(R)-2 exhibited fluorescence in CHCl3, CH3CN, DMF, MeOH and in a PMMA film.•The CPL sign of (R)-2 was inverted upon changing the solvent from CHCl3 (or MeOH) to DMF (or CH3CN).•The spectroscopic properties of (R)-2 in a PMMA film resembled those in DMF (or CH3CN).•The findings may be useful for the development of novel chiral fluorescent systems. For the selective emission of positive- and negative-sign circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), two chiral organic luminophores with opposing chirality are generally needed. In this study, the solution-state CPL sign of an axially chiral binaphthylacetic acid organic luminophore was successfully controlled by changing the solvent from chloroform (or methanol) to dimethylformamide (or acetonitrile).