AIE Triggers the Circularly Polarized Luminescence of Atomically Precise Enantiomeric Copper(I) Alkynyl Clusters

Miao-Miao Zhang; Xi-Yan Dong; Zhao-Yang Wang; Hai-Yang Li; Shi-Jun Li; Xueli Zhao; Shuang-Quan Zang

doi:10.1002/anie.201908909

AIE Triggers the Circularly Polarized Luminescence of Atomically Precise Enantiomeric Copper(I) Alkynyl Clusters

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jun 15;59(25):10052-10058. doi: 10.1002/anie.201908909. Epub 2019 Sep 18.

Authors

Miao-Miao Zhang¹, Xi-Yan Dong^{1

2}, Zhao-Yang Wang¹, Hai-Yang Li¹, Shi-Jun Li¹, Xueli Zhao¹, Shuang-Quan Zang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China.

PMID: 31469491
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201908909

Abstract

Atomically precise enantiomeric metal clusters are scarce, and copper(I) alkynyl clusters with intense circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) responses have not been reported. A pair of chiral alkynyl ligands, (R/S)-2-diphenyl-2-hydroxylmethylpyrrolidine-1-propyne (abbreviated as R/S-DPM) we successfully prepared and single crystals were characterized of optically pure enantiomeric pair of atomically-precise copper(I) clusters, [Cu₁₄ (R/S-DPM)₈ ](PF₆ )₆ (denoted as R/S-Cu₁₄ ), which feature bright red luminescence and CPL with a high luminescence anisotropy factor (g_lum ). A dilute solution containing R/S-Cu₁₄ was nonluminescent and CPL inactive at room temperature. Crystallization- and aggregation-induced emission (CIE and AIE, respectively) contribute to the triggering of the CPL of R/S-Cu₁₄ in the crystalline and aggregated states. Their AIE behavior and good biocompatibility indicated applications of these copper(I) clusters in cell imaging in HeLa and NG108-15 cells.

Keywords: alkynyl ligands; chirality; circularly polarized luminescence; cluster compound; copper.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't