Abstract: Circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) materials exhibit significant potential in applications such as three-dimensional displays, information storage, and chiral sensing. Helical polyphenylacetylene derivatives, featuring dynamically tunable helical structures and readily functionalizable side chains, constitute an ideal platform for the construction of smart CPL materials. Precise control over their helical conformations and ordered self-assembly is essential for achieving high-performance CPL and functional integration. This article reviews the research progress of helical poly(3,5-disubstituted phenylacetylene) systems, with a particular emphasis on the mechanisms by which intramolecular interactions regulate helical conformations and enable reversible switching of circularly polarized luminescence. It further summarizes effective supramolecular strategies for CPL signal amplification, including self-assembly into liquid crystalline phases and two-dimensional nanostructures. These studies provide important methods and insights for establishing controllable construction routes from helical polymers to macroscopic chiral photonic functional materials. In addition, the applications of CPL-active poly(3,5-disubstituted phenylacetylene)s in functional materials, such as chiral recognition and detection as well as mechanochromic fluorescence, are introduced. Finally, this article summarizes the challenges currently faced by this class of materials in terms of side-chain functional expansion, solid-state device fabrication, and comprehensive performance optimization, and offers perspectives on future development.

Key words: Poly(phenylacetylene); Circularly polarized luminescence, Helical conformation, Self-assembly, Chiral recognition