Polyelectrolytes optically active complexes

Fig. 27 Schematic illustration of the LbL self-assembly of a charged poly(phenylacetylene) with induced macromolecular helicity. a An excess of the one-handed helical sense is induced in 30 upon complexation with the optically active (S)-75 in water, b An induced helical 30 can be LbL assembled with an achiral polyelectrolyte having opposite charges (PAH), resulting in multilayer thin films with an induced macromolecular helicity on a substrate...

In the present paper we hope on the one hand to present an original conception of interpreting the optical activity of synthetic polymers, and on the other one to show that optical activity is not only a means to study conformational phenomena but can also prove an excellent method of detection, and even of study, of the ionisation of polyelectrolytes and of the complexation of macromolecules with ions or small molecules. In order to show both the advantages as well as the disadvantages of such a technique, we shall first of all give a brief reminder of the origins of optical rotation and circular dichroism and of their sensibility to secondary structures and chemical modifications. 

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