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Self‐Assembly and Aggregation‐Induced Emission in Aqueous Media of Responsive Luminescent Copper(I) Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles
Author(s) -
HernándezToledo Hugo,
Torrens Hugo,
FloresÁlamo Marcos,
De Cola Luisa,
MorenoAlcántar Guillermo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202100865
Subject(s) - copper , supramolecular chemistry , nanoparticle , luminescence , materials science , polymer , aqueous solution , supramolecular polymers , nanotechnology , self assembly , solvent , molecule , chemical engineering , chemistry , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , composite material , engineering , metallurgy
Luminescent copper(I)‐based compounds have recently attracted much attention since they can reach very high emission quantum yields. Interestingly, Cu(I) clusters can also be emissive, and the extension from small molecules to larger architecture could represent the first step towards novel materials that could be obtained by programming the units to undergo self‐assembly. However, for Cu(I) compounds the formation of supramolecular systems is challenging due to the coordinative diversity of copper centers. This works shows that this diversity can be exploited in the construction of responsive systems. In detail, the changes in the emissive profile of different aggregates formed in water by phosphine‐thioether copper(I) derivatives were followed. Our results demonstrate that the self‐assembly and disassembly of Cu(I)‐based coordination polymeric nanoparticles (CPNs) is sensitive to solvent composition. The solvent‐induced changes are related to modifications in the coordination sphere of copper at the molecular level, which alters not only the emission profile but also the morphology of the aggregates. Our findings are expected to inspire the construction of smart supramolecular systems based on dynamic coordinative metal centers.