Coordination Mode Engineering of Silver Cages: From ACQ to AIE for Sequential Artificial Light Harvesting and Near-White Light Emission
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Silver(I)-based metallacages are gaining interest in supramolecular chemistry owing to their tunable properties and diverse applications. Herein, we report a sequential artificial light-harvesting system using a silver-based cage. Two metallacages were synthesized: one coordinated through nitrogen (MC1, N–Ag–N) and the other through carbene carbon (MC2, C–Ag–C), each with newly constructed aggregation-induced emissive (AIE-active) ligands. MC1 presents a flexible structure and exhibits AIE properties in the aggregate form, allowing for efficient three-stage sequential energy transfer from the cage (MC1) to eosin-Y (ESY), to sulforhodamine 101 (SR101), and finally to Cyanine-5-maleimide (Cy5). Notably, we can easily achieve bright white-light emission with a high quantum yield of 93%. In sharp contrast, MC2 with a rigid structure exhibits high fluorescence in the solution state, while significant fluorescence quenching occurs in its aggregated state, thereby prohibiting its application in light-harvesting systems. This work focuses on the crucial function of structural flexibility in silver-based metallacages in energy-transfer processes and promotes silver-based metallacages as promising new candidates for advanced sequential artificial light-harvesting.
Source: JACS Au
Institution: Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
Language: English
Subfield: Organic Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,500
OpenAlex ID: W7164885114