Phosphorescence in fluid solutions at ambient temperature is usually quenched by molecular oxygen via energy transfer, and singlet oxygen is concomitantly sensitized. The long-lived phosphorescence of a series of Au arylethynyl complexes with tunable emission energies in aerated dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solutions can be completely and repeatedly switched on by controlled photoirradiation. A trace amount of DMSO oxidation by the sensitized singlet oxygen is proposed to lead to a depletion of molecular oxygen in the local microenvironment of the Au phosphor in the photoactivation processes. Harnessing the photoactivated phosphorescence and using UV light as a non-contact pen, a writing-erasing-rewriting prototype has been demonstrated with a DMSO gel containing Au arylethynyl complexes.

An organometallic Ir complex exhibited enhanced photovoltaic performance compared to an organic ligand.

Sulfoxides and cyclic ureas are photochemically deoxygenating solvents in which the oxidative stress could be released and efficient triplet-triplet annihilation photon upconversion (TTA-UC) can operate in air. Such solvents can be practically screened out by harnessing the property of photo-activated phosphorescence.

Light and oxygen dancing the rhumba: phosphorescent images could be written in PVP by photo-activation and be competitively erased by diffusional oxygen quenching.

In this paper, a water-soluble racemic self-assembled tetrahedral cage [Fe4L6](4-) was successfully resolved into their ΔΔΔΔ and ΛΛΛΛ enantiomers by (R)-/(S)-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol. The enantiomeric excess of the resolved Fe(II) cage was 99%.