Constitutional dynamic self-sensing in a zinc(II)/polyiminofluorenes system.

The interaction of an external effector, ZnII ions, with a constitutional dynamic library of fluorescent polyiminofluorenes leads to component exchange, which generates an entity responding by a change in emission to the effector that has induced its formation. The overall coupled system displays a tuning of optical signal, resulting from two synergistic processes: adaptative constitutional reorganization and self-sensing. In broader terms, this work highlights the perspectives opened by constitutional dynamic chemistry toward the design of smart materials, capable of expressing different latent properties in response to environmental conditions.