Issue 45, 2020

Mechanochromic luminescent materials of bimetallic Cu(i) complexes showing thermally activated delayed fluorescence

Abstract

Mechanochromic luminescence has recently received increasing interest due to its promising applications. Herein we report a new series of ionic bimetallic Cu(I) complexes exhibiting reversible mechanochromic luminescence and thermally activated delayed fluorescence. These Cu(I) complexes possess one emissive [{Cu(N^N)}2(μ-dppm)2]2+ cation with two N–H groups in two functional 3-(2′-pyridyl)pyrazole (N^N) ligands, and each N–H proton forms a N–H⋯O hydrogen bond with one O atom of a counterion ClO4. It is shown that reversible mechanochromic luminescence is relevant to the breaking and restoring of the NH⋯O hydrogen bonds controlled by mechanical grinding and CH2Cl2 vapor, which is well supported by their FT-IR analyses. Importantly, the difference of those two inter-convertible luminous colors appearing in luminescence mechanochromism can be effectively regulated by altering the electronic nature of the substituent on the pyrazole ring such as the trifluoromethyl and tert-butyl. This clearly suggests that rationally designed Cu(I) luminescent complexes can become promising candidates for developing low-cost intelligent responsive luminescence materials.

Graphical abstract: Mechanochromic luminescent materials of bimetallic Cu(i) complexes showing thermally activated delayed fluorescence

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Sep 2020
Accepted
19 Oct 2020
First published
20 Oct 2020

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 16160-16167

Mechanochromic luminescent materials of bimetallic Cu(I) complexes showing thermally activated delayed fluorescence

X. Chen, L. He, P. Ju, J. Chen, S. Liu and H. Wen, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 16160 DOI: 10.1039/D0TC04607H

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