Tu Liangjing, Chen Yi, Song Xiaojuan, Jiang Wanqing, Xie Yujun, Li Zhen
Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University Binhai New City, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350207, China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 May 13;63(20):e202402865. doi: 10.1002/anie.202402865. Epub 2024 Mar 20.
Recently, stimulus-responsive organic materials with room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) properties have attracted significant attention owing to their potential applications in chemical sensing, anticounterfeiting, and displays. However, molecular design currently lacks systematicity and effectiveness. Herein, we report a capture-release strategy for the construction of reversible RTP via B/N Lewis pairs. Specifically, the RTP of the Lewis acid of 7-bromo-5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene (BrBA) can be deactivated through capturing by the Lewis base, N,N-diphenyl-4-(pyridin-4-yl)aniline (TPAPy), and reactivated by dissociation of B-N bonds to release BrBA. Reversible RTP is attributed to the exceptional self-assembly capability of BrBA, whereas the tunable RTP colors are derived from distinct Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) processes. The potential applications of RTP materials in information storage and anti-counterfeiting were also experimentally validated. The capture-release approach proposed in this study offers an effective strategy for designing stimulus-responsive materials.
