Tuning the Excimer Emission of Amphiphilic Platinum(II) Complexes Mediated by Phospholipid Vesicles

Two new amphiphilic platinum(II) complexes, [Pt(2-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-(4-dodecyloxyphenyl)pyridine) (acac)] (Pt-1) and [Pt(2-(4-dodecyloxyphenyl)-5-(thien-2-yl)-c-cyclopentenepyridine) (acac)] (Pt-2), where acac is acetylacetonate, were synthesized and characterized. Apart from conventional phosphorescence of single molecules (ME-monomer emission), complexes Pt-1 and Pt-2 also exhibit excimer emission (EE) when embedded into phospholipid vesicles, that is assigned to emissive Pt-Pt excimers. The EE intensity in vesicular media appeared to depend on the viscosity of the vesicles and the concentration of the embedded complex. Differences in the EE properties of complexes Pt-1 and Pt-2 are correlated with the energies of the π-character frontier orbitals defined by the design of the cyclometalating phenylpyridine ligand. Higher energies of the frontier π-orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) naturally promote stronger π-π interactions, thus obstructing the Pt^II-Pt^II interaction.