Room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have
widespread
applications in biological imaging, anticounterfeiting, and optoelectronic
devices. Because of the predesignability of metal–organic complexes
(MOCs), the RTP materials based on MOC systems have received huge
attention from researchers. The coordinate anchoring of luminophores
to enhance the rigidity of organic molecules and restrict the nonradiative
transition offers opportunities for generating MOC materials with
captivating RTP performance. Hitherto, most of the MOC-based RTP materials
feature a single luminophore ligand. The development of new MOC systems
with RTP functionality is still challenging. Herein, we use the mixed-ligand
synthetic strategy to produce isostructural MOCs, [Zn(TIMB)(X2-TPA)]·H2O (1, X = Cl; 2, X = Br; TIMB = 1,3,5-tris(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzene;
H2-X2-TPA = 2,5-dichloroterephthalic and 2,5-dibromoterephthalic
acid), and modulate the RTP properties of resultant products via the
synergy of coordinate anchoring and substitution synthesis. 1 and 2 feature similar coordination layers composed
of neutral TIMB and anionic X2-TPA2– ligands,
which provide a good structural model to tune the RTP performances
of final products via substitution synthesis. Different from the reported
RTP materials based on MOC systems, our study provides a general way
to build and modulate MOC-based RTP materials with the assistance
of coordinate anchoring and substitution synthesis strategies.