Luminescent Metal-Based Materials – From Discrete Molecules To Supramolecular Assembly and Functions

Abstract

Recent works in our laboratory have shown that novel classes of light-absorbing and luminescent metal-containing molecular materials could be assembled through the use of various metal-ligand chromophoric coordination motifs and building blocks. In this presentation, various design and synthetic strategies will be described. A number of these metal-ligand chromophoric complexes have been shown to display rich optical and luminescence behavior. Their optical and luminescence behavior have been explored. A systematic study of the electronic absorption and luminescence spectroscopy of these newly synthesized metal complex systems has provided fundamental understanding on the spectroscopic and luminescence origin as well as the structure-property relationship of these complexes. Correlations of the chromophoric and luminescence behavior with the electronic and structural effects of the metal complexes have also been made. These simple discrete metal complexes have been shown to undergo assembly to give a variety of supramolecular assemblies, nanostructures and morphologies with unique optical properties. By understanding the spectroscopic origin and the structure-property relationships, the characteristics of these metal complexes could be fine-tuned for specific applications and functions through rational design and assembly strategies. These metal-ligand chromophoric complexes have provided new strategies and insights into the design of novel classes of luminescent metal-containing materials that would lead to interesting optical properties and functions.