Anion-controlled dimer distance induced unique solid-state fluorescence of cyano substituted styrene pyridinium

Molecular packing arrangements play a key role in dominating the photophysical properties of luminophores in aggregated state but fine control of the molecular packing is a great challenge. This article describes a unique cyano substituted styrene pyridinium with interesting solid-state fluorescence that can be finely tuned by simple change of counteranions. The dilute solutions of the organic salts (PyCl, PyNO₃, PyOTs and PyPh₄B) exhibit very weak fluorescence. The crystals of the organic salts (PyCl, PyNO₃, and PyOTs) show much enhanced fluorescence compared with their dilute solutions. It is interesting that the emissions changed from bluish-green to deep-blue and fluorescence quantum yields increase from 2.5% to 13.1% with the increasing of steric hindrance of the anions from chloridion, nitrate, to p-toluenesulfonate. Crystal and DFT studies reveal that the enhanced fluorescence is ascribed to the formation of dimers and bigger anions induce larger molecular separation in dimers. Tetraphenylboron anion with very large steric hindrance impedes the formation of dimers and thus results in non-fluorescent salt (PyPh₄B). Meanwhile, this unique dimeric packing endows the crystal of PyNO₃ with anisotropic fluorescence.