Water dispersible supramolecular assemblies built from luminescent hexarhenium clusters and silver(I) complex with pyridine-2-ylphospholane for sensorics

Programmable Synthesis of Silver Wheels

The synthesis of sandwich-shaped multinuclear silver complexes with planar penta- and tetranuclear wheel-shaped silver units and a central anion, [Ag_n(2-HPB)₂(A^-)](OTf^-)_n-1, nAg^A, n = 4 or 5 and A^- = OH^- or F^- or Cl^-, is reported, along with complete spectroscopic and structural characterization. An NMR mechanistic study reveals that silver complexes were formed in the following order: 2Ag → 3Ag^H₂O → 5Ag^OH → 4Ag^OH. The central hydroxides in 4Ag^OH and 5Ag^OH exhibit exotic physical properties due to the confined environment inside the complex. The size of these silver wheels can be tuned by changing the central anion or extracting/adding one silver atom. This study provides the facile way to synthesize discrete wheel-shaped multinuclear silver complexes and provides valuable insights into the dynamics of the self-assembly process.