A Supramolecular Artificial Light‐Harvesting System with Two‐Step Sequential Energy Transfer for Photochemical Catalysis

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 59; no. 25; pp. 10095 - 10100
• Main Authors: Hao, Min, Sun, Guangping, Zuo, Minzan, Xu, Zuqiang, Chen, Yuan, Hu, Xiao‐Yu, Wang, Leyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 15.06.2020
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Ammonium; Aqueous solutions; artificial light harvesting; Catalysis; Dehalogenation; Energy; Energy harvesting; Energy transfer; Fluorescent dyes; Fluorescent indicators; host–guest interactions; Light emission; Light sources; Photochemicals; Photosynthesis; sequential energy transfer; Supramolecular compounds; supramolecular self-assembly; White light; white light emission; artificial light harvesting; supramolecular self-assembly; white light emission; sequential energy transfer; host-guest interactions
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201912654

An artificial light‐harvesting system with sequential energy‐transfer process was fabricated based on a supramolecular strategy. Self‐assembled from the host–guest complex formed by water‐soluble pillar[5]arene (WP5), a bola‐type tetraphenylethylene‐functionalized dialkyl ammonium derivative (TPEDA), and two fluorescent dyes, Eosin Y (ESY) and Nile Red (NiR), the supramolecular vesicles achieve efficient energy transfer from the AIE guest TPEDA to ESY. ESY can function as a relay to further transfer the energy to the second acceptor NiR and realize a two‐step sequential energy‐transfer process with good efficiency. By tuning the donor/acceptor ratio, bright white light emission can be successfully achieved with a CIE coordinate of (0.33, 0.33). To better mimic natural photosynthesis and make full use of the harvested energy, the WP5⊃TPEDA‐ESY‐NiR system can be utilized as a nanoreactor: photocatalyzed dehalogenation of α‐bromoacetophenone was realized with 96 % yield in aqueous medium. It takes two to FRET: An artificial light‐harvesting system with a two‐step sequential energy‐transfer process in a relay mode was fabricated using a supramolecular strategy. It can be used as a nanoreactor for efficient photochemical catalysis. Moreover, bright white light emission can be successfully achieved with a CIE coordinate of (0.33, 0.33).