Giant Truncated Metallo-Tetrahedron with Unexpected Supramolecular Aggregation Induced Emission Enhancement
Die Liu, Mingzhao Chen, Kaixiu Li, Zhengguang Li, Jian Huang, Jun Wang, Zhilong Jiang, Zhe Zhang, Ting‐Zheng Xie, George R. Newkome, Pingshan Wang
Abstract
The artificial synthesis of giant, three-dimensional, and shell-like architectures with growing complexity and novel functionalities is an especially challenging task for chemists. Fullerenes and self-assembled cages are remarkable examples that are proven milestones in the field of functional materials. Herein, we present another unique system: a giant terpyridine-based truncated metallo-tetrahedral architecture that includes densely-packed ionic pairs with a significant internal cavity. This huge metallo-tetrahedron with a molecular weight up to 70 000 Da was self-assembled simultaneously with 64 components: 12 large antler-shaped ligands (5), 4 star-shaped ligands (6), and 48 Cd2+ ions. Surprisingly, the giant tetrahedron shows broad visible emission (400–640 nm) and aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) via a hierarchical assembly into highly-ordered nanoaggregates. A tunable emission color and near white-light emission in mixed solvent systems were also achieved. The present work not only affords an effective approach to the creation of giant shell-like architectures that can be used to mimic biological viruses and chemical frameworks but also provides a new class of functional metallo-architectures.