Controllable supramolecular structures and luminescent properties of unique trimeric Zn(ii) 8-hydroxyquinolinates tuned by functional substituentsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional theoretical data, and thermogravimetric analysis for 1 and 2 were included. CCDC 894164, 878060 and 878061. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c2dt31846f

• Main Authors: Yuan, Guozan, Huo, Yanping, Nie, Xiaoli, Jiang, Hong, Liu, Bin, Fang, Xiaoming, Zhao, Fenghua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/c2dt31846f

We reported here the self-assembly of two supramolecular structures based on similar trimeric Zn( ii ) units that are built from novel 2-substituted 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands and coordination Zn( ii ) ions. The aggregation behavior of zinc salt and ligand in solution was investigated by a variety of techniques, including 1 H NMR, UV-vis and photoluminescence (PL). In the solid state, the supramolecular structures can be controlled by the substituted groups (-NO 2 and -F) via intermolecular interaction, such as π π stacking, C-H O, and C-F F-C interactions. As a result, the two trimeric Zn( ii ) complexes exhibit disparate photophysical properties. The present research holds great promise in the development of novel multinuclear Zn( ii ) materials, and may contribute to the understanding of structure-property relationships. The supramolecular structures and photophysical properties of two complexes were tuned by the substituted groups (-NO 2 and -F).