Delicate Molecular Design, Self-Assembly and Functional Applications of Chiral Cyclophanes

Abstract

Chiral cyclophanes represent a unique supramolecular architecture that integrates chiral cavities with luminescent properties, enabled by their precisely controlled interchromophoric orientation, distance, and asymmetry. These features confer exceptional chiral recognition capabilities and distinctive chiroptical behaviors. Over the past decade, advances in synthetic strategies alongside improved computational and analytical tools, have greatly accelerated the development of diverse chiral cyclophane structures and deepened mechanistic understanding. Currently, the field is demonstrating expanding functionalities, showing significant promise in areas such as circularly polarized luminescence, asymmetric catalysis, supramolecular assembly, and biomedicine. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in chiral cyclophanes, offering a timely overview of the historical context, current achievements, and future directions. Based on the location of chiral elements and overall molecular geometry, the discussed cyclophanes are categorized into four subtypes: those containing chiral chromophores, those with chiral linkers, systems exhibiting planar chirality, and chiral cyclophanes with stacked multilayer chromophores. By organizing the literature according to these structural classes, this review aims to offer clear guidance for the rational design and functional exploration of chiral cyclophanes, thereby fostering interdisciplinary innovation across chemistry, materials science, life sciences and other related fields.