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Spontaneous and Fast Molecular Motion at Room Temperature in the Solid State
Author(s) -
Alam Parvej,
Leung Nelson L. C.,
Cheng Yanhua,
Zhang Haoke,
Liu Junkai,
Wu Wenjie,
Kwok Ryan T. K.,
Lam Jacky W. Y.,
Sung Herman H. Y.,
Williams Ian D.,
Tang Ben Zhong
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201813554
Subject(s) - amorphous solid , solid state , fluorescence , materials science , nanotechnology , state (computer science) , molecule , chemical physics , chemistry , computer science , crystallography , physics , optics , organic chemistry , algorithm
The development of molecular machines requires new building blocks which are easy to characterize and visualize to realize a complexity comparable to their natural counterparts such as biological enzymes. Furthermore, with the desire to build functional nanobots capable of navigating living organisms, it is necessary that the building blocks show mobility even in the solid state. Herein we report a system which is emissive in the amorphous state but is non‐fluorescent in the crystalline state due to the formation of extensive π‐π interactions. This dual nature could be exploited for easy visualization of its solid‐state molecular rearrangement. The emission of the amorphous film was quenched as the molecules spontaneously formed π‐π interactions even in the solid state. Scratching the non‐emissive film destroyed the interactions and restored the emission of the film. The emission quickly disappeared with an average lifetime of 20 s as the compound reformed the π‐network even at room temperature.