Metal-organic supramolecular nanoarchitectures by Ru(II) bis-(terpyridine)-bridged pillar[5]arene dimers with triphenylamine

A metal-organic photoinduced electron transfer (PET) supramolecular nanoarchitecture comprised of Ru(II) bis(terpyridine)-modified pillar[5]arene (electron acceptor) and triazole triphenylamine amyl cyanide (electron donor) has been designed and constructed. Through the comparison of diverse solvents and acceptors, the two conditions, i.e., modification of pillar[5]arene to donor and weak polar solvent are benefit for the occurrence of “efficient PET” because of shorter D-A distance in the presence of pillar[5]arene. Crucially, the fluorescence and PET process of the supramolecular assembly could be further modulated by solvent conversion and another competitive guest. The study provides a supramolecular method to design and construct tunable PET systems and PET-based smart materials.