Precisely Confined AIEgens in Giant Imidazolium-Terpyridinyl Cuboctahedra with Enhanced Fluorescence for Single Supramolecule

To study the fluorescent behavior of quantitatively confined aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules in a giant cavity, herein a new type of coordination-driven cuboctahedron cage is presented, with 12 AIE molecules anchored endohedrally linked with different-length alkyl chains. The cage with confined tetraphenylethylene molecules shows strong fluorescence in highly diluted conditions (4 x 10(-7) m). The fluorescence quantum yield can be altered from 3.23% up to 81.37%, upon prolonging the length of alkyl chains to C16. The study shows a great potential application in biology mimic and fluorescent microscopes utilizing confined or isolated fluorescent methods.

Automated summary

A new type of coordination-driven cuboctahedron cage was presented to study the fluorescent behavior of quantitatively confined aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules in a giant cavity. The cage, with 12 AIE molecules anchored endohedrally linked with different-length alkyl chains, exhibited strong fluorescence in highly diluted conditions. The fluorescence quantum yield could be altered by prolonging the length of alkyl chains. This study has great potential applications in biology mimic and fluorescent microscopes utilizing confined or isolated fluorescent methods.