Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active tetraphenylethene (TPE) functionalized phenyl isocyanide (PI) derivatives, such as TPE pendent PI monomers (TPE-NC) and TPE-based Pd­(II) catalysts (TPE-Cat. a and TPE-Cat. b) were synthesized. The corresponding linear (poly­(TPE-NC) n ) and four-armed (TPE-[poly­(TPE-NC) m ]4) conjugated polymers were subsequently prepared through the living polymerization of TPE-NC with TPE-Cat. a or TPE-Cat. b in THF, respectively. All of them have good solubility in common organic solvents, such as THF and CHCl3, and exhibited tunable AIE property, which can be facilely tuned through the variations on the concentration and the molecular weights (MWs) of the polymers. They also showed excellent thermal stability with a 5% of their weight loss as high as 380–405 °C and significant mass loss in the range of 350–650 °C. Stable helical assemblies could be formed by poly­(TPE-NC)n at high concentration conditions. However, four-armed TPE-[poly­(TPE-NC) m ]4 could self-assemble into an apparent bumpy “caterpillar” like assembly, which was very different from the ordinary ones. Moreover, these conjugated polymers could be employed to generate a vapochromism phenomenon and act as good dispersants for carbon agglomerates in poor solvents. It is expected that this work can enrich the family of luminescent materials based on the helical poly­(phenyl isocyanide) main chains and guide the future design of optical materials with attractive structures and special purposes, such as heat-resistant materials, security materials, and dispersed materials.

A facile construction of diverse polymeric nanostructures was reported by simple quaternization reaction and UV irradiation starting from the same rod-rod conjugated poly(4-isocyano-benzoic acid 5-(2-dimethylamino-ethoxy)-2-nitro-benzyl ester)-b-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (PPI(-DMAENBA)-b-P3HT) diblock copolymers, which were prepared by sequential living copolymerization of 4-isocyano-benzoic acid tertbutyl ester (PI) and 3-hexylthiophene (3HT) using Ni(dppp)Cl 2 as a catalyst in a one-pot process with a subsequent chemical modification. The facile quaternization reaction and UV irradiation upon PPIand poly(4-isocyano-benzoic acid)-b-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (PPI(-AA)-b-P3HT) copolymers. Two different polymeric micellar supramolecular structures with cationic and anionic surface properties could be obtained by direct dispersion of positively charged PPI(-QDMAENBA)-b-P3HT and negatively charged PPI(-AA)-b-P3HT copolymers into water. Interestingly, the resultant PPI(-QDMAENBA/DMAENBA)-b-P3HT block copolymers with a 40% degree of quaternization were found to exhibit unique light emissions with the color transformed from luminous yellow to pink depending on the solvent ratio of THF and waterused. An almost neutral and ordered thin film was achieved on the exact stoichiometric charge balance between these two types of oppositely charged micelles, which highlights the potential to incorporate conjugated copolymers into the assembled block copolymer micelles (BCMs) to yield multifunctional ordered films and relevant applications. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional experimental procedures and spectroscopic data. See

Hybrid rod-rod diblock copolymers, poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate)-poly(4-cyano-benzoic acid 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-cyclohexyl ester) (PBLG-PPI), with determined chirality are facilely synthesized through sequential copolymerization of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate N-carboxyanhydride (BLG-NCA) and phenyl isocyanide monomers bearing chiral menthyl pendants using a Ni(cod)(bpy) complex as the catalyst in one-pot. Circular dichroism and absorption spectra reveal that each block of the block copolymers possesses a stable helical conformation with controlled helicity in solution due to the induction of chiral pendants. The two diastereomeric polymers self-assemble into helical nanofibrils with opposite handedness due to the different chiral induction of the L- and D-menthyl pendants, confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Deprotection of the benzyl groups of the PBLG segment affords biocompatible amphiphilic diblock copolymers, poly(L-glutamic acid)-poly(4-cyano-benzoic acid 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-cyclohexyl ester) (PLGA-PPI), that can self-assemble into well-defined micelles by cosolvent induced aggregation. Very interestingly, a chiral rhodamine chromophores RhB(D) can be selectively encapsulated into the chiral polymeric micelles, which is efficiently internalized into living cells when directly monitored with a confocal microscope. This contribution will be useful for developing novel rod-rod biocompatible hybrid block copolymers with a controlled helicity, and may also provide unique chiral materials for potential bio-medical applications.

A new composite film was synthesised by taking advantage of interface-directed assembly between thiol group-functionalized copolymers and Au NPs. The film not only exhibited strongly Au NP concentration-dependent SERS activity, but also allowed detection of a model molecule.