| Description |
Since pioneering work in the early 1990s, coordination-driven self-assembly has emerged as a powerful synthetic methodology in delivering complex, discrete supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs) with predesigned, well-defined sizes and shapes. While fundamental research on building SCCs with higher structural complexity remains interesting, the functional aspect of SCCs has attracted attention from researchers. SCCs have found widespread applications as photonic devices, imaging agents, sensors, catalysts, and in areas of biomedicine and polymer science. However, the functionalities of SCCs are largely determined by the precursors employed, rather than a ramification of the self-assembly process. This dissertation is focused on the design, synthesis, and characterization of SCCs with emergent polymeric and photophysical properties functionalities that are not observed in the individual precursors, through the synergy between the precursors. SCC with both a hydrogen-bonding motif and a host-guest interaction motif were prepared using coordination interactions, and the hierarchical self-assembly of these orthogonal interactions enables the formation of supramolecular networks with predesigned functionalities. The structural diversity and rigid nature of SCCs allow for the precise modulation on the motions and conformations of the precursors incorporated. SCCs with efficient emission in both solution and the solid state were prepared using luminophores with aggregation-induced emission. Using a luminophore with conformation-based iv emission changes as a precursor, SCCs with tunable emission color were synthesized by altering the shape of complementary precursors that dedicates the rigidity of the SCCs. A heterometallic ruthenium-platinum SCC was prepared as an efficient photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy due to the interaction between the metal-containing precursors that enhance the efficiency for reactive oxygen species generation, and the formation of a large cyclic structure that facilitates cellular uptake and selective accumulation in the mitochondria and the nucleus. |
