LAUSR

A pair of enantiomeric cis-poly(phenylacetylene)s (PPAs) substituted at the meta-positions of pendant phenyl rings by an achiral methoxycarbonyl group and a chiral 1-methylpropyloxycarbonyl group (i.e., sP-Me-C4/rP-Me-C4) as well as two cis-PPAs bearing either just a methoxycarbonyl (i.e., m-aP-Me) or a 1-methylpropyloxycarbonyl (i.e., m-sP-C4) meta substituent were synthesized under the catalysis of [Rh(nbd)Cl]2 (nbd = norbornadiene). Various techniques including 1H NMR, FTIR, Raman, UV–vis, CD, DSC, STM, DLS/SLS, and computer calculation were applied to characterize the helical structures of these polymers in both solution and solid states. sP-Me-C4/rP-Me-C4 adopted contracted cis-cisoid helical conformations in THF, toluene, CH2Cl2, and ClCH2CH2Cl but cis-transoid ones in CHCl3 and Cl2CHCHCl2. The cis-cisoid helices were considered to be stabilized by the existence of six n → π* interaction bands along the polyene backbones between vicinal carbonyl groups. Such interactions were insensitive to the diel...