Multiresponsive
materials can adapt to numerous changes in their
local environment, which makes them highly valuable for various applications.
Although nanostructured and polymeric multiresponsive materials are
plentiful, small-molecule analogues are scarce. This work presents
a compact cyclometalated platinum(II) complex that bears a crown ether
cavity (18C6-PtII); the intimate ring/emitter
connectivity is key to unlocking multiresponsiveness. Complex 18C6-PtII responds to (i) cationic guests, producing
changes in luminescence in both solution and the solid state, (ii)
solvent molecules, which perturb the packing of the complex in the
solid state and cause reversible color changes, and (iii) solvent
polarity, which leads to controlled aggregation. These responses may
enable 18C6-PtII to function as a sensor for
ions and solvents, or as a functional unit for the fabrication of
hybrid supramolecular polymers and metallogels.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.