Multicomponent supramolecular photochemistry

Metal complexes have strongly contributed to the development of supramolecular photochemistry. Indeed, photoinduced energy (EnT) and electron transfer (ET) processes involving different components of (multicomponent) supramolecular species, as well as changes in the luminescence output of supramolecular subunits, as a consequence of interaction of other subunits of the assembly with environment components, are key features of photo-active supramolecular systems. Here we review recent progresses in the field, ranging from (i) multicomponent supramolecular species made of photo-active metal-based building blocks, often explored as synthetic light-harvesting and charge separation molecular devices for artificial photosynthesis, to (ii) coordination cages and host-guest species, also investigated as biological sensors, to (iii) metal-containing supramolecular compounds based on non-covalently linkages, including systems exhibiting aggregation induced emission, often investigated as environmental probes.