Reversible luminescence switching accompanied by assembly-disassembly of metallosupramolecular amphiphiles based on a platinum(II) complex

The electrostatic self-assembly of anionic surfactants with a cationic platinum(II) complex bearing triethylene glycol leads to the formation of metallosupramolecular amphiphiles with rod- and sheet-like aggregates in aqueous solutions. The resulting solutions show strong luminescence enhancement, which can decrease back to the original emissive intensity of the platinum(II) complex by disassembling the aggregates through host-guest recognition with alpha-cyclodextrin. Both the self-assembly and disassembly processes are monitored in real time by UV-vis absorption and emission spectra and dynamic light scattering. The critical aggregation concentrations are determined by concentration-dependent measurements of emission spectra and dynamic light scattering. The present study provides an efficient and convenient strategy to fabricate dynamic metallosupramolecular amphiphiles with controllable photophysical properties.