The aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) characteristics of the two alkoxy-bridged binuclear Re(I) complexes [{Re(CO)3(1,4-NVP)}2(μ2-OR)2] (1, R = C4H9; 2, C10H21) bearing a long alkyl chain with 4-(1-naphthylvinyl)pyridine (1,4-NVP) ligand are illustrated. These complexes in CH2Cl2 (good solvent) are weakly luminescent, but their intensity increased enormously by almost 500 times by the addition of poor solvent (CH3CN) due to aggregation. By tracking this process via UV-vis absorption and emission spectral and TEM techniques, the enhanced emission is attributed to the formation of nanoaggregates. The nanoaggregate of complex 2 is used as a sensor for nitroaromatic compounds. Furthermore, the study of the photophysical properties of these binuclear Re(I) complexes in cationic, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), anionic, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and nonionic, p-tert-octylphenoxypolyoxyethanol (TritonX-100, TX-100), micelles as well as in CTAB-hexane-water and AOT-isooctane-water reverse micelles using steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy and TEM analysis reveals that the nanoaggregates became small and compact size.
The high-yielding self-assembly of three neutral rhenium(I) rectangles, [Re(2)(CO)(6)(L)(bpe)](2) (1 a, L=2,2'-biimidazolate (biim); 1 b, L=2,2'-bisbenzimidazolate (bbim); 1 c, L=2,2'-bis(4,5-dimethylimidazolate) (bdmim); bpe=trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene), under hydrothermal conditions is described. The rectangles were structurally characterized by spectroscopic techniques and further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Upon irradiation with a Hg lamp at 365 nm, the bpe ligands of rectangles 1 a and 1 b underwent [2+2] photocycloaddition reactions to produce [{(Re(CO)(3))(2)L}(2)(4,4'-tpcb)(2)] (2 a, L=biim; 2 b, L=bbim; 4,4'-tpcb=1,2,3,4-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)cyclobutane) through a single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) transformation. However, rectangle 1 c, which contained methyl groups on the 2,2'-biimidazolate ligand, failed to undergo cycloaddition, even after prolonged irradiation. This result indicates that the light-induced cycloaddition reaction can be preferentially controlled by the remote regulatory substituents, which are attached onto the same backbone of the rectangle complex. This transformation is the first reported utilization of a remote ancillary regulatory ligand that is covalently attached onto a coordination compound to control the [2+2] cycloaddition reaction.
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