title: A chirality indicator for the surfaces of the silica nanotubes.
abstract: The chirality of the silicas attracted much attention, due to their potential applications in asymmetric catalysis and enantioseparation. However, their chirality has not been well understood. Herein, a chirality indicator for the surfaces of the silica nanotubes was developed. The helical silica nanotubes were prepared through a sol-gel transcription approach. The handedness was controlled by that of the self-assemblies of the low-molecular-weight amphiphiles. 4-Triethoxysilyl-1,1'-biphenyl (TSB) was modified on the surfaces of silica nanotubes through covalent bonds. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the TSB-modified silica nanotubes indicated that the chirality of silica surfaces could be transferred to the twist of the biphenyl rings. The origin of these CD signals was characterized using time-dependent density functional theory.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Organic Synthesis of Jiangsu Province, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Baozong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Minliang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang