Supramolecular assemblies of ethidium and acridinium ions at the interlayer regions of α-zirconium phosphate

Excited state properties of 9-amino acridine surface adsorbed onto αZr-phosphate particles

In this report the photo-physical properties of 9-amino acridine (9AA) associated with αZr-phosphate particles (αZrP) is examined. In ethanol solution 9AA exhibits absorption maxima at 425 nm, 402 nm and 383 nm as well as emission bands centered at 455 nm and 483 nm (using 423 nm excitation). The corresponding emission decay is monophasic with a lifetime of 16.5 ns. When αZrP is sonicated in the presence of an ethanol solution of 1 mM 9AA the resulting material exhibits a broad absorption band centered at ∼400 nm with shoulders at ∼425 nm and ∼385 nm and emission bands at 462 nm and 485nm (using 423 nm excitation). Interestingly, the emission decay is biphasic with lifetimes of 1.6 ns and 9.8 ns constituting 57% and 43% of the total emission intensity, respectively. The absence of any shifts in the low angle XRD data suggests that 9AA associates via adsorption onto the exterior surfaces of the αZrP particles. Overall, these results are consistent with different modes of 9AA association to αZrP reflecting different degrees of H-bonding which significantly influences the extent of non-radiative decay from the lowest excited singlet state of 9AA.

Excimer Formation in the Interlayer Region of Arene-Derivatized Zirconium Phosphonates

Photophysical investigations are reported for two arene-derivatized zirconium phosphonates (layered solids). The chromophore groups that are attached within the interlayer region of these materials are seen to form excimer pairs. Whereas the naphthalene-containing system exhibits both monomer and excimer fluorescence, the potentially greater overlap of chromophores for the system containing anthracene-pendant groups causes that compound to only show excimer fluorescence.