We report the synthesis and characterization of a three‐dimensional tetraphenylethene‐based octacationic cage that shows host–guest recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. coronene) in organic media and water‐soluble dyes (e.g. sulforhodamine 101) in aqueous media through CH⋅⋅⋅π, π–π, and/or electrostatic interactions. The cage⊃coronene exhibits a cuboid internal cavity with a size of approximately 17.2×11.0×6.96 Å3 and a “hamburger”‐type host–guest complex, which is hierarchically stacked into 1D nanotubes and a 3D supramolecular framework. The free cage possesses a similar cavity in the crystalline state. Furthermore, a host–guest complex formed between the octacationic cage and sulforhodamine 101 had a higher absolute quantum yield (ΦF=28.5 %), larger excitation–emission gap (Δλex‐em=211 nm), and longer emission lifetime (τ=7.0 ns) as compared to the guest (ΦF=10.5 %; Δλex‐em=11 nm; τ=4.9 ns), and purer emission (ΔλFWHM=38 nm) as compared to the host (ΔλFWHM=111 nm).

Chirality transfer, induction, and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) using supramolecular hosts, such as macrocycles and cages, have been explored for wide-ranging applications in chiral recognition, sensing, catalysis, and chiroptical functional materials. Herein, we report the adaptive chirality of an achiral tetraphenylethene (TPE)-based octacationic cage (1) induced by binding with enantiopure deoxynucleotides (A, T, C, and G) through host-guest (H-G) complexation inwater. The hydrophobic cavity of the cage efficiently stabilizes the hydrogen-bonded dimerization of deoxynucleotides (A 2 , T 2 , C 2 , and G 2 ) to form H-G complexes in 1∶2 ratios. Given the photophysical properties and dynamic rotational conformation of the TPE units of the cage, cage⊃ deoxynucleotide complexes exhibited excellent chiroptical properties based on chirality transfer and induction from the chiral guest to the achiral host. For this supramolecular system, the cage showed a unique adaptive chirality of the double clockwise-typed (PP) rotational conformation of the two TPE units, which was induced by chiral guests (e.g., A 2 , T 2 , C 2 , and G 2 ) through H-G complexation in water. Furthermore, the adaptive chirality of the cage⊃deoxynucleotide complexes successfully induced CPL signals in homogeneous aqueous solutions. This study provides insights for the construction of adaptive chirality from an achiral TPE-based octacationic cage with dynamic conformational nature, and might facilitate further design of chiral functional materials for several applications, such as chiral recognition, sensing, displays, catalysis, and other chiral fluorescent supramolecular systems based on aqueous H-G complexation.

Recently, porous framework materials with various network-type structures have been constructed via several different approaches, such as coordination interactions, reversible covalent bonds, and non-covalent interactions. Here, we have combined the concepts of supramolecular coordination complex (SCC) and metal-organic framework to offer a new strategy to construct a diamondoid supramolecular coordination framework (SCF) from an adamantanoid supramolecular coordination cage as the tetrahedral node and a difunctional Pt(II) ligand as the linear linker via stepwise orientation-induced supramolecular coordination. The adamantanoid supramolecular coordination cage has four uncoordinated pyridyl groups, which serve as the four vertexes of the tetrahedral geometry in the diamondoid framework. As a result, this diamondoid SCF exhibits an adamantanoid-to-adamantanoid substructure with two sets of pores, including the interior cavity of the adamantanoid cage and the extended adamantanoid space between the individual cages in the framework. In addition, the shape-controllable and highly ordered self-assembly of nanometer-sized diamondoid SCF is observed as micrometer-sized regular octahedrons by evaporation under heating in DMSO. This study demonstrates the potential application of supramolecular coordination complexes in the precise construction of highly regulated porous framework materials.

Supramolecular coordination is an efficient strategy to construct supramolecular coordination frameworks with predesigned structures, assembled shapes, and specific function. In this work, we report the synthesis, structural characterization, and photophysical property of two tetraphenylethene-based supramolecular coordination frameworks 1a and 1b formed from 1,1,2,2-tetrakis(4-(pyridin-4-yl)phenyl)ethene (2a) or 1,1,2,2tetrakis(4-((E)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)vinyl)phenyl)ethene (2b) and a linear difunctional platinum(II) ligand (3a) via coordinationdriven self-assembly. Controlled by the specific angularity and geometry of tetraphenylethene (with 60°and 120°) and difunctional Pt(II) linker (with 180°), these supramolecular coordination frameworks possess a well-defined and two-dimensional (2D) rhombic network-type topology with good periodicity and porosity. Given the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property of tetraphenylethene units and the porosity of frameworks, 1a and 1b have been successfully used as fluorescent platforms and energy donors to fabricate efficient artificial light-harvesting materials with two fluorescent acceptors (Nile Red and Sulforhodamine 101) via noncovalent interactions in aqueous solution. Furthermore, these light-harvesting materials have been applied for promoting cancer cell imaging with a full shift of imaging channels from blue/green channels to the red channel. Thus, this study provides an effective approach to fabricate functional frameworks as fluorescent platforms for developing more fluorescent materials.

Sequence-specific recognition of peptides and proteins by synthetic compounds or systems remains a huge challenge in the biocompatible media. Here, we report the chiral adaptive recognition (CAR) with sequence specificity...

Artificial photofunctional systems with energy and electron transfer functions, inspired from photosynthesis in nature, have been developed for many promising applications including solar cell, biolabeling, photoelectric materials, and photodriven catalysis. Supramolecular hosts including macrocycles and cages have been explored for simulating photosynthesis based on a host–guest strategy. Herein, we report a host–guest approach by using a tetraphenylethene-based octacationic cage and fluorescent dyes to construct artificial photofunctional systems with energy and electron transfer functions. The cage traps various dyes within its hydrophobic cavity to form 1:1 host–guest complexes via CH-π, π–π, and/or electrostatic interactions in solution. The efficient energy transfer and ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer between the cage and dyes are competitive processes with each other in artificial photofunctional systems. Spectroscopic techniques that confirm energy transfer from the fluorescent cage to dyes (e.g., NiR, R700, and R800) are efficient, which induce the red shift of fluorescence. On the other hand, ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer from dyes (e.g., ICG, AG, and AV) to the fluorescent cage can induce fluorescence quenching. This study provides an insight into the construction of artificial photofunctional systems with energy and electron transfer functions via a host–guest approach in solution.

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We report the synthesis and characterization of a three‐dimensional tetraphenylethene‐based octacationic cage that shows host–guest recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. coronene) in organic media and water‐soluble dyes (e.g. sulforhodamine 101) in aqueous media through CH⋅⋅⋅π, π–π, and/or electrostatic interactions. The cage⊃coronene exhibits a cuboid internal cavity with a size of approximately 17.2×11.0×6.96 Å3 and a “hamburger”‐type host–guest complex, which is hierarchically stacked into 1D nanotubes and a 3D supramolecular framework. The free cage possesses a similar cavity in the crystalline state. Furthermore, a host–guest complex formed between the octacationic cage and sulforhodamine 101 had a higher absolute quantum yield (ΦF=28.5 %), larger excitation–emission gap (Δλex‐em=211 nm), and longer emission lifetime (τ=7.0 ns) as compared to the guest (ΦF=10.5 %; Δλex‐em=11 nm; τ=4.9 ns), and purer emission (ΔλFWHM=38 nm) as compared to the host (ΔλFWHM=111 nm).