Emergence of Chiroptical Properties in Molecular Assemblies of Phenyleneethynylenes: The Role of Quasi-degenerate Excitations

Chiroptical properties of supramolecular assemblies originate through the asymmetric coupling of molecular transition dipole moments. Herein, we report a joint experimental and theoretical investigation to understand the influence of intermolecular interactions on chiroptical properties, particularly during the early stages of self-assembly. In this regard, phenyleneethynylene-based molecular systems appended with d- and l-isomers of phenylalanine have been synthesized with one as well as two electronic transitions in the spectral region of interest. When self-assembled, these molecules show distinctly different chiroptical properties with the right- and left-handed organizations, guided by the chirality of phenylalanines. The standard exciton approach explains the observation of a bisignated electronic circular dichroism signal in systems with a single transition but fails when applied to systems with two nearby transitions. Here, we present a generalized exciton approach that addresses the unusual chiroptical properties of systems with multiple transitions.