Anthracene–Triphenylamine-Based Platinum(II) Metallacages as Synthetic Light-Harvesting Assembly

Two trigonal prismatic metallacages 1 and 2 bearing triphenylamine and anthracene moieties are designed and synthesized to fabricate artificial light-harvesting systems (LHSs). These two cages are prepared via the coordination-driven self-assembly of two anthracene-triphenylamine-based tripyridyl ligand 3, three dicarboxylates, and six 90° Pt(II) acceptors. The design of the anthracene-triphenylamine chromophore makes possible the tunable excited-state property (like the emissive transition energy and lifetime) as a function of the solvent polarity, temperature, and concentration. The synergistic photophysical footprint of these metallacages, defined by their high absorptivity and emission quantum yield (QY) relative to the free ligand 3, signifies them as a superior light sensitizer component in an LHS. In the presence of the fluorescent dye Nile Red (NR) as an energy acceptor, the metallacages display efficient (>93%) excited energy transfer to NR through an apparent static quenching mechanism in viscous dimethyl sulfoxide solvent.