Circularly Polarized Luminescence From Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in a Bimetallic Eu–Al Complex
The emergence of optically active functional compounds through spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking is a rare but intriguing phenomenon with relevance of both practical and fundamental interest. Here we show that a racemic Eu-Al compound, bearing only non-chiral ligands, forms a conglomerate upon crystallization. Single crystals of the compound are electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) active. Moreover, we found that a significant enantiomeric excess (50%) of either enantiomer is present in each crystallization batch (non-racemic conglomerate). Such spontaneous symmetry breaking leads not only to optically active single enantiomorph crystals but to an overall solid bulk with significant ECD and CPL.
Authors
- Francesco Zinna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6331-6219)
- Gregorio Bottaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6196-8638)
- Marcin Górecki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7472-3875)
- Lorenzo Di Bari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2347-2150)
- Lidia Armelao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5162-3695)
- Simona Samaritani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3518-3164)
- Luca Labella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5001-7853)
- Luca Bellucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4895-4773)
- Fabio Marchetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-2660)
- Elisa Gallo
Institutions
- University of Pisa (IT)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy (IT)
- Institute of Organic Chemistry (PL)
- Tecnologie Avanzate (Italy) (IT)
- Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Chemistry - A European Journal
- Published
- 2025-03-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202500750
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.87