Selective detection of DABCO using a supramolecular interconversion as fluorescence reporter

摘要

The quantitative double self-sorting between the three-component rectangle [Cu4(>1)2(>2)2]⁴⁺ and the four-component sandwich complex [Cu2(>1)(>2)(>4)]²⁺ is triggered by inclusion and release of DABCO (>4). The fully reversible and clean switching between two multicomponent supramolecular architectures can be monitored by fluorescence changes at the zinc porphyrin sites. The structural changes are accompanied by a huge spatial contraction/expansion of the zinc porphyrin–zinc porphyrin distances that change from 31.2/38.8 Å to 6.6 Å and back. The supramolecular interconversion was used for the highly selective detection of DABCO in a mixture of other similar compounds.