Recycling Organic Dyes within the Metal-Organic Framework for Photothermal Conversion

The pursuit of a straightforward method to recycle organic dyes from effluents and repurpose them into valuable materials represents a highly sought-after yet huge challenge within the realms of chemistry, environment, and materials science. In this context, we employ a host-guest strategy that leverages the recycling of the rhodamine B molecule within the porous structure of a metal-organic framework to facilitate photothermal conversion. This achievement is realized through the electrostatic interaction, which then gives rise to remarkable selectivity and unparalleled uptake capacity for the cationic rhodamine B molecule. Capitalizing on this approach, the application of a columnar device and membrane technology for efficiently trapping rhodamine B molecules becomes feasible. On account of the aggregation effect resulting from the confined pore structure of the host matrix, the fluorescence emission of the encapsulated RhB molecules is significantly reduced, which consequently enhances the photothermal performance of the hybrid material through nonradiative transition. Moreover, the photothermal conversion achieved showcases a myriad of high-performance applications, including bacterial inhibition against Escherichia coli and seawater desalination.

An Azulene-Based Crystalline Porous Covalent Organic Framework for Efficient Photothermal Conversion

The designed synthesis of a crystalline azulene-based covalent organic framework (COF-Azu-TP) is presented and its photothermal property is investigated. Azulene, a distinctive 5-7 fused ring non-benzenoid aromatic compound with a large intramolecular dipole moment and unique photophysical characteristics, is introduced as the key feature in COF-Azu-TP. The incorporation of azulene moiety imparts COF-Azu-TP with broad-spectrum light absorption capability and interlayer dipole interactions, which makes COF-Azu-TP a highly efficient photothermal conversion material. Its polyurethane (PU) composite exhibits a solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency (97.2%) and displays a water evaporation rate (1.43 kg m-2 h-1) under one sun irradiation, even at a very low dosage of COF-Azu-TP (2.2 wt%). Furthermore, COF-Azu-TP is utilized as a filler in a polylactic acid (PLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL) composited shape memory material, enabling rapid shape recovery under laser stimulation. A comparison study with a naphthalene-based COF isomer further emphasizes the crucial role of azulene in enhancing photothermal conversion efficiency. This study demonstrates the significance of incorporating specific building blocks into COFs for the development of functional porous materials with enhanced properties, paving the way for future applications in diverse fields.

Accessible Tetrathiafulvalene Moieties in a 3D Covalent Organic Framework for Enhanced Near-Infrared Photo-Thermal Conversion and Photo-Electrical Response

Redox-active tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) exhibit distinctive electrochemical and photoelectrical properties, but their prevalent two-dimensional (2D) structure with densely packed TTF moieties limits the accessibility of redox center and constrains their potential applications. To overcome this challenge, an 8-connected TTF linker (TTF-8CHO) is designed as a new building block for the construction of three-dimensional (3D) COFs. This approach led to the successful synthesis of a 3D COF with the bcu topology, designated as TTF-8CHO-COF. In comparison to its 2D counterpart employing a 4-connected TTF linker, the 3D COF design enhances access to redox sites, facilitating controlled oxidation by I2 or Au3+ to tune physical properties. When irradiated with a 0.7 W cm-2 808 nm laser, the oxidized 3D COF samples (I X - ${\mathrm{I}}_{\mathrm{X}}^{-}$ @TTF-8CHO-COF and Au NPs@TTF-8CHO-COF) demonstrated rapid temperature increases of 239.3 and 146.1 °C, respectively, which surpassed those of pristine 3D COF (65.6 °C) and the 2D COF counterpart (6.4 °C increment after I2 treatment). Furthermore, the oxidation of the 3D COF heightened its photoelectrical responsiveness under 808 nm laser irradiation. This augmentation in photothermal and photoelectrical response can be attributed to the higher concentration of TTF·+ radicals generated through the oxidation of well-exposed TTF moieties.

Nucleic-acid-base photofunctional cocrystal for information security and antimicrobial applications

Cocrystal engineering is an efficient and simple strategy to construct functional materials, especially for the exploitation of novel and multifunctional materials. Herein, we report two kinds of nucleic-acid-base cocrystal systems that imitate the strong hydrogen bond interactions constructed in the form of complementary base pairing. The two cocrystals studied exhibit different colors of phosphorescence from their monomeric counterparts and show the feature of rare high-temperature phosphorescence. Mechanistic studies reveal that the strong hydrogen bond network stabilizes the triplet state and suppresses non-radiative transitions, resulting in phosphorescence even at 425 K. Moreover, the isolation effects of the hydrogen bond network regulate the interactions between the phosphor groups, realizing the manipulation from aggregation to single-molecule phosphorescence. Benefiting from the long-lived triplet state with a high quantum yield, the generation of reactive oxygen species by energy transfer is also available to utilize for some applications such as in photodynamic therapy and broad-spectrum microbicidal effects. In vitro experiments show that the cocrystals efficiently kill bacteria on a tooth surface and significantly help prevent dental caries. This work not only provides deep insight into the relationship of the structure-properties of cocrystal systems, but also facilitates the design of multifunctional cocrystal materials and enriches their potential applications.

Primary Structural Units "D+A-" Ion Pairs Dominating Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion of Organic Ionic Cocrystals

The specific stacking mode of D/A blocks is often considered to largely determine the physicochemical properties of cocrystals. However, this rule may fail when encountering a large degree of (integer or near-integer) charge transfer situations. Herein, we explore the extensive correlations between the possible smallest structural units, stacking modes, and near-infrared photothermal conversion (NIR-PTC) properties of F4TCNQ-based cocrystals with typical features of integer-charge-transfer. Surprisingly, these cocrystals with distinct stacking modes display analogous D-A interactions, broad red-shift absorption, ultrafast (1-3 ps) relaxation dynamics of excited states, and excellent NIR-PTC properties. This supports that the resulting "D+A-" ion pairs from integer-charge-transfer may serve as the primary structural units beneath the secondary stacking modes to dominate the property of cocrystals. The stacking modes play an important but only secondary role. This work provides new insights into the structure-dynamics-property correlations and modular design of organic cocrystals for PTC and other applications.

Hydrogen-bonded organic framework-stabilized charge transfer cocrystals for NIR-II photothermal cancer therapy

Charge-transfer (CT) cocrystals consisting of an electron donor and acceptor have gained attention for designing photothermal (PT) conversion materials with potential for biomedical and therapeutic use. However, the applicability of CT cocrystals is limited by their low stability and aqueous dispersity in biological settings. In this study, we present the self-assembly of CT cocrystals within hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs), which not only allows for the dispersion and stabilization of cocrystals in aqueous solution but also promotes the CT interaction within the confined space of HOFs for photothermal conversion. We demonstrate that the CT interaction-driven self-assembly of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) with PFC-1 HOFs results in the formation of cocrystal-encapsulated TQC@PFC-1 while retaining the crystalline structure of the cocrystal and PFC-1. TQC@PFC-1, in particular, exhibits significant absorption in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II) and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency, as high as 32%. Cellular delivery studies show that TQC@PFC-1 can be internalized in different types of cancer cells, leading to an effective NIR-II photothermal therapy effect both in cultured cells and in vivo. We anticipate that the strategy of self-assembly and stabilization of CT cocrystals in nanoscale HOFs opens the path for tuning their photophysical properties and interfacing cocrystals with biological settings for photothermal therapeutic applications.

Ambipolar to Unipolar Conversion in C70/Ferrocene Nanosheet Field-Effect Transistors

Organic cocrystals, which are assembled by noncovalent intermolecular interactions, have garnered intense interest due to their remarkable chemicophysical properties and practical applications. One notable feature, namely, the charge transfer (CT) interactions within the cocrystals, not only facilitates the formation of an ordered supramolecular network but also endows them with desirable semiconductor characteristics. Here, we present the intriguing ambipolar CT properties exhibited by nanosheets composed of single cocrystals of C70/ferrocene (C70/Fc). When heated to 150 °C, the initially ambipolar monoclinic C70/Fc nanosheet-based field-effect transistors (FETs) were transformed into n-type face-centered cubic (fcc) C70 nanosheet-based FETs owing to the elimination of Fc. This thermally induced alteration in the crystal structure was accompanied by an irreversible switching of the semiconducting behavior of the device; thus, the device transitions from ambipolar to unipolar. Importantly, the C70/Fc nanosheet-based FETs were also found to be much more thermally stable than the previously reported C60/Fc nanosheet-based FETs. Furthermore, we conducted visible/near-infrared diffuse reflectance and photoemission yield spectroscopies to investigate the crucial role played by Fc in modulating the CT characteristics. This study provides valuable insights into the overall functionality of these nanosheet structures.

Mechanochemistry toward Organic "Salt" via Integer-Charge-Transfer Cocrystal Strategy for Rapid, Efficient, and Scalable Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion

Inspired by the concept of ionic charge-transfer complexes for the Mott insulator, integer-charge-transfer (integer-CT) cocrystals are designed for NIR photo-thermal conversion (PTC). With amino-styryl-pyridinium dyes and F4TCNQ (7,7',8,8'-Tetracyano-2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroquinodimethane) serving as donor/acceptor (D/A) units, integer-CT cocrystals, including amorphous stacking "salt" and segregated stacking "ionic crystal", are synthesized by mechanochemistry and solution method, respectively. Surprisingly, the integer-CT cocrystals are self-assembled only through multiple D-A hydrogen bonds (C-H⋅⋅⋅X (X=N, F)). Strong charge-transfer interactions in cocrystals contribute to the strong light-harvesting ability at 200-1500 nm. Under 808 nm laser illumination, both the "salt" and "ionic crystal" display excellent PTC efficiency beneficial from ultrafast (∼2 ps) nonradiative decay of excited states. Thus integer-CT cocrystals are potential candidates for rapid, efficient, and scalable PTC platforms. Especially amorphous "salt" with good photo/thermal stability is highly desirable in practical large-scale solar-harvesting/conversion applications in water environment. This work verifies the validity of the integer-CT cocrystal strategy, and charts a promising path to synthesize amorphous PTC materials by mechanochemical method in one-step.

Dual Charge Transfer Generated from Stable Mixed-Valence Radical Crystals for Boosting Solar-to-Thermal Conversion

Realizing dual charge transfer (CT) based on stable organic radicals in one system is a long-sought goal, however, remains challenging. In this work, a stable mixed-valence radical crystal is designed via a surfactant-assisted method, namely TTF-(TTF^+• )₂ -RC (where TTF = tetrathiafulvalene), containing dual CT interactions. The solubilization of surfactants enables successful co-crystallization of mixed-valence TTF molecules with different polarity in aqueous solutions. Short intermolecular distances between adjacent TTF moieties within TTF-(TTF^+• )₂ -RC facilitate both inter-valence CT (IVCT) between neutral TTF and TTF^+• , and inter-radical CT (IRCT) between two TTF^+• in radical π-dimer, which are confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, solid-state absorption, electron spin resonance measurements, and DFT calculations. Moreover, TTF-(TTF^+• )₂ -RC reveals an open-shell singlet diradical ground state with the antiferromagnetic coupling of 2J = -657 cm^-1 and an unprecedented temperature-dependent magnetic property, manifesting the main monoradical characters of IVCT at 113-203 K while the spin-spin interactions in radical dimers of IRCT are predominant at 263-353 K. Notably, dual CT characters endow TTF-(TTF^+• )₂ -RC with strong light absorption over the full solar spectrum and outstanding stability. As a result, TTF-(TTF^+• )₂ -RC exhibits significantly enhanced photothermal property, an increase of 46.6 °C within 180 s upon one-sun illumination.

Organic Photothermal Cocrystals: Rational Design, Controlled Synthesis, and Advanced Application

Organic photothermal cocrystals, integrating the advantages of intrinsic organic cocrystals and the fascinating photothermal conversion ability, hold attracted considerable interest in both basic science and practical applications, involving photoacoustic imaging, seawater desalination, and photothermal therapy, and so on. However, these organic photothermal cocrystals currently suffer individual cases discovered step by step, as well as the deep and systemic investigation in the corresponding photothermal conversion mechanisms is rarely carried out, suggesting a huge challenge for their further developments. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to investigate and explore the rational design and synthesis of high-performance organic photothermal cocrystals for future applications. This review first and systematically summarizes the organic photothermal cocrystal in terms of molecular classification, the photothermal conversion mechanism, and their corresponding applications. The timely interpretation of the cocrystal photothermal effect will provide broad prospects for the purposeful fabrication of excellent organic photothermal cocrystals toward great efficiency, low cost, and multifunctionality.

Rigid-Flexible Hybrid Porous Molecular Crystals with Guest-Induced Reversible Crystallinity

A weak CH/O hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF) with both rigidity and flexibility that could easily and reversibly switch from a non-crystalline to a crystalline phase was constructed. The specific solvent molecule acts as a "key" to control the crystallinity, while the highly rigid triangle macrocycle as the building block is the "lock". The introduction and removal of the "key" could influence the local flexibility of the whole framework and lead to switchable crystallinity. Furthermore, the obtained HOF exhibits excellent separation efficiency for benzene and cyclohexane (94.4 %).

Manipulating Host-Guest Charge Transfer of a Water-Soluble Double-Cavity Cyclophane for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Water-soluble small organic photothermal agents (PTAs) over NIR-II biowindow (1000-1350 nm) are highly desirable, but the rarity greatly limits their applications. Based on a water-soluble double-cavity cyclophane GBox-4⁴⁺ , we report a class of host-guest charge transfer (CT) complexes as structurally uniform PTAs for NIR-II photothermal therapy. As a result of its high electron-deficiency, GBox-4⁴⁺ can bind different electron-rich planar guests with a 1 : 2 host/guest stoichiometry to readily tune the CT absorption band that extends to the NIR-II region. When using a diaminofluorene guest substituted with an oligoethylene glycol chain, the host-guest system realized both good biocompatibility and enhanced photothermal conversion at 1064 nm, and was then exploited as a high-efficiency NIR-II PTA for cancer cell and bacterial ablation. This work broadens the potential applications of host-guest cyclophane systems and provides a new access to bio-friendly NIR-II photoabsorbers with well-defined structures.

Charge-Transfer Complex Doped Photothermal Hydrogels for Discriminating Circularly Polarized Near-Infrared Light

Hydrogels behave as potential candidates to investigate circularly polarized light (CP)-matter interaction, which however suffer from small sensitivity towards circular polarization. Here we report a general protocol to build hydrogels from π-conjugated amino acids with coassembled charge-transfer (CT) complexes, covering a wide scope of donors and acceptors, which were incorporated into stable hydrogel matrices. CT complexes formed block coassemblies with gelators, induced the emergence of macroscopic chiral helices, where efficient chirality transfer occurs to realize tunable Cotton effects from visible light to NIR-I region depending on the structures of CT pairs. The hybrid hydrogels showed tunable photothermal performances with excellent heating-cooling cycling durability. Circularly polarized NIR light selectively triggered gel-solution phase transition at different timescales. Left- and right-CP illumination generates up to 2.5 folds difference in gel collapse time that allows for direct discrimination by naked eyes.

From Materials to Devices: Rationally Designing Solar Steam System for Advanced Applications

Solar-driven water vaporization for freshwater production attracts significant interest due to its potential for solving global water scarcity problems. In this review, the recent development of management strategies via diverse rational designs in terms of light, thermal, water, and anti-salt fouling for enhancement of overall vaporization efficiency, is summarized. For device design, a host-guest concept is raised for clearly elaborating the detailed function and interaction between the solar-thermal material and the substrates. In addition, the rising technologies derived from solar vaporization, such as energy generation, photocatalysis, dehumidification, salt harvesting, sterilization, and biofuel production, are also highlighted. This review provides a new horizon toward the development of solar technologies and practical applications.

Charge transfer modulation in charge transfer co-crystals driven by crystal structure morphology

The electronic properties of a charge-transfer (donor-acceptor) semiconducting organic co-crystal, Perylene:F4-TCNQ (PE:F4) (the donor, D, is PE and the acceptor, A, is 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8 tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4)) in its 3 : 2 stoichiometry, are experimentally and theoretically studied. This is performed by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and solid state electrochemical techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements on single crystals. In particular, solid state electrochemistry proves to be an effective tool to probe, on a macroscopic scale, the electronic characteristics of the co-crystal. However, EPR highlights the presence of spin ½ radicals localized on F4 molecules, possibly linked to defects. The experimental findings are discussed on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) based calculations, carried out using both the projector augmented wave (PAW), with "periodic boundary conditions" (pbc), method and the localized orbitals, molecular cluster, approach. In particular, a satisfying agreement is found between the experimental, 0.336 eV (electrochemical), and theoretical, 0.303 eV (PAW), band gaps. Differences with the reported optical bandgap are discussed considering excitonic effects.

Near-Infrared Light Triggered a High Temperature Utilizing Donor-Acceptor Cocrystals

Developing a suitable initiation for the energetic materials that respond to a low-power near-infrared laser can aid in replacing the current expensive and bulky laser-initiation systems. Here, we report on a system of molecularly tailored 1:1 donor-acceptor (D-A) charge-transfer (CT) cocrystals that manifest ultrabroad absorption (200-2500 nm) characteristics as well as noteworthy very fast self-assembly behaviors. The very narrow highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap enables N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine and tetrahalo-1,4-benzoquinones (TMPD-TXBQ) cocrystals to have a great light-harvesting ability in the near-infrared range. When irradiated with a low-power hand-held 808 nm laser with an input energy of only 40 mJ or a power density of 260 mW·cm^-2, these TMPD-TXBQ cocrystals immediately undergo an efficient photothermal conversion followed by a dramatic exothermic thermal polymerization reaction due to the face-to-face D-A-D-A stacking in these cocystals to achieve a temperature as high as 318.9 °C. This temperature is high enough for a thermal initiation of most common energetic materials, and thus this TMPD-TXBQ cocrystal can potentially act as a near-infrared laser initiator that is compact, lightweight, and cost-effective.

Nanoscale porphyrin assemblies based on charge-transfer strategy with enhanced red-shifted absorption

Charge-transfer assemblies (CTAs) represent a new class of functional material due to their excellent optical properties, and show great promise in the biomedical field. Porphyrins are widely used photosensitizers, but the short absorption wavelengths may restrict their practical applications. To obtain porphyrin phototherapeutic agents with red-shifted absorption, charge-transfer nanoscale assemblies (TAPP-TCNQ NPs) of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl) porphyrin (TAPP) and 7,7,8,8‑tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) were prepared via optimizing the stoichiometric ratios of donor-acceptor. The as-prepared TAPP-TCNQ NPs exhibit red-shifted absorption to the near-infrared (NIR) region and enhanced absorbance because of the charge-transfer interactions. In especial, TAPP-TCNQ NPs possess the capacity of both photodynamic and photothermal therapy, thus effectively killing the bacteria upon 808 nm laser irradiation. This modular assembly method provides an alternative strategy to enhance the application of the phototherapeutic agents.

Boosting Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion by Intermolecular Interactions in Isomeric Cocrystals

Organic cocrystal exhibits excellent photothermal conversion (PTC), but how the intermolecular interactions of cocrystals regulate the PTC is obscure. Here, two isomeric donor molecules (phenanthrene and anthracene) and two electron-withdrawing molecules (7,7,8,8,8-tetracyanodimethylquinone and 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinone dimethane) are self-assembled into the four cocrystals (PTQ, PFQ, ATQ, and AFQ). By changing the molecular configuration of the donor and the electron-withdrawing ability of the acceptor, the intrinsic influencing factors of the intermolecular interaction on the PTC were explored. Under near-infrared laser (808 nm) irradiation, the PTC efficiencies of PTQ, PFQ, AFQ, and ATQ are 35.85, 44.74, 57.00, and 60.53%, respectively. Based on the single-crystal X-ray diffraction, ultrafast time-resolved transient absorption, and excited-state theoretical calculations, we found that the π-π stacking in ATQ and AFQ is conducive to promoting the near-infrared light-harvesting ability and the p-π interaction of cocrystals can regulate the nonradiative rotation of -C(C≡N)₂ groups, resulting in a tunable near-infrared PTC via the isomeric cocrystals. Accordingly, the evaporation rate of the porous polyurethane-AFQ foam can reach 1.33 kg·m^-2·h^-1 in the simulated solar-driven water evaporation system. This work provides a strategy to boost the PTC by the intermolecular interactions of cocrystal materials.

Multivariate Synthetic Strategy for Improving Crystallinity of Zwitterionic Squaraine-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks with Enhanced Photothermal Performance

Two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) offer a designable platform to explore porous polyelectrolyte frameworks with periodic ionic skeletons and uniform pore channels. However, the crystallinity of ionized 2D COF is often far from satisfactory as the electrostatic assembly of structures impedes the ordered layered arrangement. Here, a multivariate synthetic strategy to synthesize a highly crystalline squaraine (SQ)-linked zwitterionic 2D COF is proved. A neutral aldehyde monomer copolymerizes with squaric acid (SA) and amines in a controlled manner, resulting in the ionized COF with linkage heterogeneity in one tetragonal framework. Thus, the zwitterions of SQ are spatially isolated to minimize the electrostatic interaction and maintain the highly ordered layered stacking. With the addition of 85%-90% SA (relative to a total of aldehydes and SA), a fully SQ-linked zwitterionic 2D COF is achieved by the in-situ conversion of imine to SQ linkages. Such a highly crystalline SQ-linked COF promotes absorptivity in a full spectrum and photothermal conversion performances, and in turn, it exhibits enhanced solar-to-vapor generation with an efficiency of as high as 92.19%. These results suggest that synthetically regulating charge distribution is desirable to constitute a family of new crystalline polyelectrolyte frameworks.

Structural, Hirshfeld Surface and HOMO-LUMO gap analysis of five co-crystals of 2-amino-5-chloropyridine or 2-amino-bromopyridine with isomeric methylbenzoic acids

The 1:1 co-crystals formed between 2-amino-5-chloropyridine/2-amino-5-bromopyridine and isomeric n-methyl-benzoic acids [n = 2, 3 and 4] are described. The co-crystals with the n = 2 co-former are isostructural. The co-formers are linked by intermolecular hydrogen bonds involving amino-N–H⋯O(carbonyl) and hydroxyl-O–H⋯N(pyridine). Additional and comparable amino-N–H⋯O(carbonyl) hydrogen bonds were evident in all co-crystals and play an important role in stabilising the molecular packing. The intermolecular interactions were also analysed through the calculated Hirshfeld surfaces. The charge transfer occurring between the calculated HOMO-LUMO states suggests electron mobility within the co-crystals owing to the aforementioned hydrogen bonding.

Accessing Highly Efficient Photothermal Conversion with Stable Open-Shell Aromatic Nitric Acid Radicals

It is very challenging to prepare stable radicals as they are usually thermodynamically or kinetically unstable in air. Herein, a series of star-shaped aromatic nitric acid radicals were prepared via facile demethylation and consequent oxidation. As phenol radicals without steric hindrance group protection, they exhibit high electrochemical and thermal stability due to their rich resonance structures including closed-shell nitro-like and open-shell nitroxide structure with unpaired electrons delocalized in conjugated backbones. Among them, TPA-TPA-O₆ powder exhibited extremely wide absorption from 300 to 2000 nm covering the whole solar spectral irradiance, high photothermal conversion efficiency, and negligible photobleaching effect in seawater desalination. Under the irradiation of one sunlight, the water evaporation efficiency of TPA-TPA-O₆ is recorded to be as high as 89.41 % and the water evaporation rate is 1.293 kg m^-2  h^-1 , which represents the top performance in pure organic small molecule photothermal materials.

A Tetrathiafulvalene/Naphthalene Diimide-Containing Metal-Organic Framework with fsc Topology for Highly Efficient Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide broad prospects for the development of new photothermal conversion materials, while their design and synthesis remain challenging. A new Zn-MOF (1) containing both tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) as an electron donor and naphthalene diimide (NDI) as an electron acceptor was constructed by using a space limiting effect. The material exhibited wide absorption peaks in the near-infrared region, indicating that there was strong charge transfer interaction between the TTF and NDI units and providing the possibility of photothermal conversion. 1 shows efficient near-infrared photothermal conversion performance. Under 808 nm laser (0.4 W cm^-2) illumination, the temperature of 1 increased rapidly from room temperature to 250 °C, with good thermal stability and cycle durability. This work provides an efficient strategy for promising materials in photothermal therapy.

Crystal Engineering of Ferrocene-Based Charge-Transfer Complexes for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy and Ferroptosis

Organic charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) can function as versatile second near-infrared (NIR-II) theranostic platforms to tackle complicated solid tumors, while the structure–property relationship is still an unanswered problem. To uncover the effect of molecular stacking modes on photophysical and biochemical properties, herein, five ferrocene derivatives were synthesized as electron donors and co-assembled with electron-deficient F4TCNQ to form the corresponding CTCs. The crystalline and photophysical results showed that only herringbone-aligned CTCs (named anion-radical salts, ARS NPs) possess good NIR-II absorption ability and a photothermal effect for short π–π distances (<3.24 Å) and strong π-electron delocalization in the 1D F4TCNQ anion chain. More importantly, the ARS NPs simultaneously possess ·OH generation and thiol (Cys, GSH) depletion abilities to perturb cellular redox homeostasis for ROS/LPO accumulation and enhanced ferroptosis. In vitro experiments, FcNEt-F4 NPs, and typical ARS NPs, show outstanding antitumor efficiency for the synergistic effect of NIR-II photothermal therapy and ferroptosis, which provides a new paradigm to develop versatile CTCs for anti-tumor application.

Based on crystal engineering of charge transfer complexes (CTCs), ferrocene-based CTCs, with Fenton-catalyzing, biothiol-responsive and NIR-II photothermal abilities, were controllably developed and the structure–property relationship was revealed.

Near-infrared photothermal conversion properties of carbazole-based cocrystals with different degrees of charge transfer

Three charge transfer carbazole-based cocrystals were obtained and demonstrated regulated photothermal conversion efficiency by the modulation of the charge transfer degree via intelligent design of donor–acceptor pairs.

Fine-Tuning Macrocycle Cavity to Selectively Bind Guests in Water for Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion

The rational and specific synthesis of the required organic macrocycles to bind the size-matched targeted guests without undesired macrocyclic byproducts remains a great challenge. Herein, based on a new naphthalimide...

Design of Persistent and Stable Porous Radical Polymers by Electronic Isolation Strategy

Conjugated organic radical polymers with stable radical features are difficult to design because the π conjugation in the polymer backbones makes the radicals readily delocalize and tend to undergo covalent bonding processes. In this work, we report an electronic isolation strategy to design stable porous radical polymers by homocoupling reaction from a meta-position active monomer. The meta linkage ensures less conjugation in the polymer skeletons, localizes the resonant radicals, and prevents them from recombination. The resulting porous radical polymer exhibits exceptional radical characters with ultralow band gap of 0.68 eV, strong yet extended UV/Vis-NIR absorption up to 1800 nm, and high spin density. The above features make the polymer very promising in the photothermal conversion with record-high photothermal temperature increment of ≈∼240 °C and striking solar-driven water evaporation efficiency of 96.8 %. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of electronic isolation of radicals for producing outstanding photothermal materials.

Structural effect of NIR-II absorbing charge transfer complexes and its application on cysteine-depletion mediated ferroptosis and phototherapy

Second near-infrared (NIR-II) absorbing organic photothermal agents (PTAs) usually suffer from laborious and time-consuming synthesis; therefore, it is of importance to develop a simple and easy-to-handle method for the preparation of NIR-II PTAs. Charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) can be easily used to construct NIR-II absorbing PTAs, although the relationship between their molecular structure and photophysical properties is yet to be uncovered. Herein, three kinds of electron donors with different substitutions (chloroethyl, ethyl, and methyl) were synthesized and assembled with electron-deficient F4TCNQ to afford corresponding CTC nanoparticles (Cl-F4, Et-F4, and Me-F4 NPs). The large energy gap (>0.61 eV) between HOMO of the donor and LUMO of the acceptor made the CTCs exhibit high charge transfer (>0.93) and dramatic differences in photophysical properties. Additionally, Et-F4 NPs possess the highest NIR-II absorption ability and best photothermal effect because of different packing modes (mass extinction coefficient of 11.0 L g^-1 cm^-1 and photothermal conversion efficiency of 40.2% at 1060 nm). The mixed stacking mode formed strong charge-transfer absorption bands, indicating that the photophysical properties of CTCs can be tailored by changing the molecular structure and aggregate behaviors. Furthermore, Et-F4 NPs with cyano groups could specifically react with cysteine to block the intracellular biosynthesis of GSH and result in ROS accumulation and ferroptosis. Et-F4 NPs possess outstanding antitumor efficacy for the combined actions of NIR-II triggered photothermal killing effect and ferroptosis in vivo.

Unprecedented Improvement of Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion Efficiency to 87.2% by Ultrafast Non-radiative Decay of Excited States of Self-Assembly Cocrystal

Near-infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion is of great interest in many fields. Here, a self-assembly organic cocrystal (N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA)) with strong absorption in NIR range is constructed, with widespread absorption (200-1500 nm) and very high NIR photothermal conversion efficiency (87.2%). Essentially, in this cocrystal, a small HOMO-LUMO gap of donor-acceptor pair boosts the absorption ability of this cocrystal in the NIR range. The mixed stacking structure significantly enhances the intermolecular interactions as well as the electron-hole delocalization, suppressing the emission processes, leading to nonradiative decay processes from excited states. Strong intermolecular interactions enable the cocrystal to have dense electronic energy levels, leading to a high proportion (94.4%) vibrational cooling and internal conversion processes with ultrafast excited-state relaxation (0.12 ps), which contributes to high NIR photothermal conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the cocrystal has exhibited capable ability for being an excellent candidate for a NIR photothermal therapy agent.

Charge Transfer Metal-Organic Framework Containing Redox-Active TTF/NDI Units for Highly Efficient Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a class of new inorganic-organic hybrid crystal materials, could have important applications in near-infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion. Herein, a new charge-transfer MOF (Co-MOF) with mixed ligands of H₄ TTFTB and bpmNDI incorporating redox-active tetrathiafulvalene/naphthalene diimide (TTF/NDI) units into one system is reported. Due to the presence of TTF/NDI oxidative and reductive couples, stable radicals can be observed in the MOF. In addition, charge transfer from the electron donor (TTF) to the acceptor (NDI) results in a broad absorption in the NIR region. The Co-MOF exhibited an efficient photothermal effect induced by irradiation with a NIR laser. Under the 808 nm laser (0.7 W cm^-2 ) illumination, the temperature of the Co-MOF increased from room temperature to 201 °C in only 10 s. Furthermore, a series of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films doped with trace amounts of Co-MOF showed efficient NIR photothermal conversion. When a Co-MOF@PDMS (0.6 wt %) film is irradiated by 808 nm laser with power of 0.5 W cm^-2 , it's temperature can reach a plateau at 62 °C from 20 °C within 100 s. Our experimental results from the Co-MOF@PDMS film demonstrate that the effectiveness and feasibility of the material is promising for photothermal applications.

Molecular Triangles: A New Class of Macrocycles

ConspectusMacrocycles have had a profound influence on the establishment of supramolecular chemistry because of their abundant molecular recognition and self-assembly characteristics. The design of new macrocyclic receptors that can be tailored by synthesis to display new and exotic properties is an important research objective for chemists and materials scientists. Rigid macrocycles with π-conjugated aromatic units, in contrast with flexible ones, tend to possess large interior and exterior π-surfaces in addition to persistent shapes. These features not only endow these macrocycles with a wide range of host-guest properties but also render them ideal building blocks for constructing a diverse variety of supramolecular architectures. The incorporation of π-conjugated units into macrocycles also imbues them with a wealth of optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, resulting in their broad application in materials science and molecular nanotechnology.Recently, we have designed and synthesized a new class of macrocycles, namely, molecular triangles, which have rigid structures with triangular geometries. They consist of three chiral trans-1,2-cyclohexano apexes and three aromatic tetracarboxylic diimide linkers, such as pyromellitic diimide, naphthalene diimide, and perylene diimide. Benefiting from the availability of facile synthetic protocols, the geometries and properties of these rigid molecular triangles can be altered at will. By combining these tetracarboxylic diimide linkers, we have been able to synthesize both molecular equilateral and isosceles triangles. During the past few years, we have conducted research in a systematic manner on the structural features and self-assembly characteristics of these molecular triangles. The following points are worthy of note regarding these molecular triangles: (i) They possess shape-persistent inner cavities of a highly electron-deficient nature. These features endow them with the ability to complex with anions and electron-rich molecules, forming supramolecular nanotubes and two-dimensional tilings. (ii) Those with intrinsic chirality are able to self-assemble into solid-state nonhelical or single-handed helical superstructures, inducing selective chirality transfer from the macrocycles to their crystalline supramolecular assemblies. (iii) The triangular arrangement of aromatic tetracarboxylic diimide linkers contributes to through-space electron delocalization encompassing the entire macrocycle, conferring exotic electronic and spin properties. To date, the family of molecular triangles has exhibited a range of physicochemical properties, such as anion recognition, chiral assembly, supramolecular gelation, energy storage, solid-state luminescence, and nonlinear optical response.In this Account, we summarize our recent progress in research into these molecular triangles. We present an overview of their design and synthesis, as well as a general summary of their structural features. Thereafter, we discuss state-of-the-art developments in relation to their molecular recognition properties and their assembly characteristics. In addition, we highlight the potential applications of these molecular triangles and their complexes with a range of solvents and electron-rich molecules. Finally, we speculate on further structural modifications and application-oriented explorations based on this class of molecular triangles.

Acceptor-regulated luminescence in carbazole-based charge transfer complexes

A dicarbazole derivative and two acceptors could formed 1D mixed stacking columns in their charge transfer co-crystals. Moreover, the LUMO energy levels of the acceptors determine the fluorescence colors of the co-crystals.

Polycyclic motif engineering in cyanostilbene-based donors towards highly efficient modulable emission properties in two-component systems

Cynostilbene based two-component materials are fabricated which exhibit tunable structures and excellent photophysical properties depending on the IP of the polycyclic moiety and organization of the donor-acceptor in the condensed phase.