High-contrast tricolor-tunable solid luminescent AIE-active Au(I) isocyanide complexes based on thermo- and mechanochromism

Abstract

Breaking through the limitations of traditional luminescent materials, integrating the charming aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, high-contrast mechanochromism and thermochromism into one molecule is of great significance to make stimuli-responsive materials more intelligent. Herein, two Au(I) isocyanide complexes with short alkoxyl chains (C2 and C3) in the solid state are designed and synthesized, the length of the alkoxyl chain exerts significant impacts on molecular arrangement. Both C2 and C3 exhibit obvious AIE properties, the green luminescent aggregate of C2 and C3 is result from J-aggregation while the orange luminescent aggregate of C3 is result from the formation of aurophilic bonds, which supported by the single crystal X-ray analysis. Moreover, C2 and C3 not only display red-shifted mechanochromism (20 nm and 26 nm), but also exhibit gradual blue-shifted thermochromism. A tricolored luminescent switch application was demonstrated using C3 as a multi-stimuli responsive material. This molecular design strategy provides a new avenue for efficient luminescent materials with AIE and multi-stimuli responsive properties.