X-Ray imaging and enantioselective photopolymerization enabled by chiral Eu(iii) complex nanoscintillators†

Chirality plays a pivotal role in enhancing the functionality of scintillator materials, enabling applications like X-ray-activated imaging and enantioselective photocatalysis, where scintillators exhibit radioluminescent properties under high-energy photon irradiation. Herein, we synthesized chiral Eu(III) coordination complexes utilizing the chiral ancillary ligand R/S-BINAPO, demonstrating their exceptional properties as chiral nanoscintillators. These complexes exhibit strong red radioluminescence and impressive X-ray imaging capabilities, with a detection limit of 58.47 nGy s⁻¹ and a spatial resolution of 22.2 lp mm⁻¹. Meanwhile, these chiral complexes show excellent room-temperature circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) properties, enabling asymmetric photopolymerization under X-ray irradiation. These findings highlight the potential of chiral Eu(III) complex nanoscintillators in advancing photonics and asymmetric catalysis, opening new avenues for applications in challenging environments and biological systems.