Synthesis of novel luminescent copper nanoclusters with substituent driven self-assembly and aggregation induced emission (AIE)Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental details and supporting characterization details such as FTIR, XPS and fluorescence spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/c8cc09109a

• Main Authors: Prakash, Krishnendu T, Singh, Namrata, Venkatesh, V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1359-7345; 1364-548X
• DOI: 10.1039/c8cc09109a

We demonstrate a novel strategy to synthesize highly stable luminescent mercaptoimidazole-capped copper nanoclusters (CuNCs). Herein we depict that a simple modification of substituents on the mercaptoimidazole ligand dictates the self-assembly and photophysical properties of the clusters. These CuNCs showed aggregation induced emission (AIE) with a large Stokes shift (Δ λ > 200 nm), and the formation of clusters corresponding to Cu 4 L 3 was confirmed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analyses. Interestingly, these nanoclusters effectively internalize into mammalian cells while retaining their fluorescent properties and exhibit negligible toxicity. We demonstrate a novel strategy to synthesize highly stable and luminescent mercaptoimidazole-capped copper nanoclusters (CuNCs). Simple modification of substituents on the mercaptoimidazole ligand dictates the self-assembly and photophysical properties of the clusters.