The encapsulation of various guest molecules into the pores of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to form hybrid materials has attracted significant attention due to their unique spatial distribution and certain preferential geometry of the guests inside the MOFs. This arrangement often results in the guests exhibiting unique physical and chemical properties due to their intramolecular interactions with the host. In this article, five viologen derivatives were introduced as guests in a Zn-MOF with different benzene ring lengths, resulting in the formation of host-guest three-dimensional (3D) MOFs. The five compounds exhibited guest-dependent emission wavelength, color, and excellent photochromic behavior upon ultraviolet (UV) light radiation due to the distinct electronic transfer and π···π stacking interactions between the viologen guests and the host framework. This study provides a host-guest strategy for designing color-tunable luminescent and highly sensitive photochromic materials.
Keywords: host−guest; modulating emission; photochromic behavior; viologen-based MOFs; π···π stacking interactions.