Construction of artificial light-harvesting systems in aqueous solution: Supramolecular polymers based on host-enhanced π–π interaction with aggregation-induced emission

Abstract

In this work, we report a simple strategy by mixing a naphthyl-substituted 9,10-bis((E)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)vinyl)anthracene (BP4VA) and cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) in aqueous solution, based on the host-guest complexation between CB[8] and a BP4VA derivative (1), to construct supramolecular polymers. The host-guest interaction between CB[8] and naphthyl efficiently restricted the intramolecular rotation and the non-radiative relaxation channel, thereby resulting in the strong emission in dilute solution. We further investigate the self-assembly behaviors of the complex between CB[8] and 1. The aggregated species of the supramolecular polymers in aqueous solution exhibited nanorods structures with a relatively wide size distribution ranging from 60 to 200nm, which showed potential application as highly efficient aqueous light-harvesting systems by using supramolecular polymers as energy donor and sulfo-cyanine5 carboxylic acid (Cy5) as energy acceptor.