ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses photoresponsive, chiral biorelated and synthetic polymers bearing a configurational and/or conformational chirality in the polymer main chains. It reviews the photocontrol of the chiral recognition ability of chiral polymers and chirality induction on achiral polymer films by circular polarized light (CPL). Chiral polymers with optical activity can be synthe-asymmetric polymerization of achiral and prochiral monomers with chiral catalysts or initiators. The irradiation of a right or left CPL to photoreactive racemic or achiral compounds may lead to partial photoresolution or asymmetric photosynthesis. The photocontrol of chiral recognition is one of the most challenging themes in host-guest and supramolecular chemistry. The most important feature of chiral polymers is optical activity, and therefore such a conformational change can be transformed into a change in the optical activity of the polymers. A number of optically active polymers, particularly helical polymers with an excess one-handedness, have been prepared with much interest.
