Dye aggregates have attracted a great deal of attention due to their widespread applications in organic light-emitting devices, light-harvesting systems, etc. However, the strategies to precisely control chromophores with specific spatial arrangements still remain a great challenge. In this work, a series of double- and triple-decker supramolecular complexes are successfully constructed by coordination-driven self-assembly of carefully designed shape-complementary ligands, one claw-like tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-based host ligand and three tetratopic or ditopic guest ligands. The spatial configurations of these assemblies (one double-decker and three "S-shaped" or "X-shaped" triple-decker structures) depend on the angles of these TPE-derived ligands. Notably, the three triple-decker structures are geometric isomers. Furthermore, photophysical studies show that these complexes exhibit different ratios of radiative (kr ) and non-radiative (knr ) rate constant due to the different spatial arrangements of TPE moieties. This study provides not only a unique strategy for the construction of multi-stacks with specific spatial arrangement, but also a promising platform for investigating the aggregation behavior of fluorescent chromophores.
Keywords: metallo-supramolecules; multi-decker molecules; single crystals; terpyridine; tetraphenylethylene.
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