Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.138, No.3, 738-741, 2016
Vapochromic Behavior of a Chair-Shaped Supramolecular Metallacycle with Ultra-Stability
A new discrete supramolecular metallacycle functionalized with an alkynylplatinum(II) bzimpy moiety was successfully prepared via coordination-driven self-assembly, and it displayed a reversible color change in the solid state between yellow and red, triggered by CH2Cl2 vapor or mechanical grinding. Notably, unlike many known vapochromic systems, the obtained vapochromic metallacycle exhibits ultra-stability, with the red color remaining unchanged in air for several months at room temperature or even under vacuum for >1 week. Further investigation revealed that the chair conformation of the metallacyclic scaffold, which was thought to prevent intermolecular steric repulsion between the alkyl chain and triethylphosphine, favored close molecular stacking through intermolecular Pt center dot center dot center dot Pt and pi-pi stacking interactions, thus allowing such vapochromic behavior with ultra-stability.