Noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, metal coordination, and p-p stacking, are increasingly being utilized to develop well-ordered and selforganized supramolecular materials. Recently, new types of nonclassical weak interactions, such as C-HÁÁÁp, C-HÁÁÁF-C, and C-HÁÁÁO, have been exploited in stabilizing the specific conformations of molecules and molecular assemblies in the solid state. These noncovalent interactions play an important role in materials comprised of polymer chains, because cooperative effects from a large number of weak interactions can lead to drastic changes in its conformation, several properties, and functionalities. The programmed design of synthetic helical polymer with well-defined molecular conformation has been the main subject in modern polymer science and engineering. Silicon-catenated polysilane is an ideal helical silicon quantum wire and polymers with unique photophysical properties. The present review highlights the spectroscopic evidences for through-space weak SiÁÁÁF-C interaction in poly(methyl-3,3,3-trifluoropropylsilane) (1) in noncoordinating and coordinating solvents by means of NMR ( 29 Si and 19 F) and IR spectroscopies, and viscometric measurement. It was found that 1 is applicable for chemosensors with an extremely high sensitivity and selectivity toward fluoride ions in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and with high sensitivity for nitroaromatic compounds, detected by a decrease in the photoluminescence intensity in THF and in thin solid film. V V C 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5060-5075, 2006