Truxene-to-Fluorenone Energy Transfer in a Robust Mesoporous Zn-MOF

A new metal-organic framework (MOF; [Zn₄O(hett)_4/3(fluo)_1/2(bdc)_1/2]; TFT-MOF) constructed on chromophoric ligands 5,5',10,10',15,15'-hexaethyltruxene-2,7,12-triacetate (hett), 9-fluorenone-2,7-dicarboxylate (fluo), terephthalate (bdc), and the Zn₄O node has been prepared and identified by powder X-ray diffraction. This luminescent MOF exhibits large mesoporous pores of 2.7 nm based on computer modeling using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectra and photophysical parameters of TFT-MOF have been investigated and compared with those of the free ligands and their basic chromophores. All in all, TFT-MOF exhibits particularly efficient singlet-singlet energy-transfer processes described as ¹(hett)* → (fluo) and ¹(bdc)* → (fluo), leading to fluorescence arising for the fluo lumophore operating only through Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) with an efficiency of transfer of up to >95%. This experimental conclusion was corroborated by DFT and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT). For the ¹(hett)* → (fluo) process, the approximated overall rate constant of energy transfer was evaluated to be at most 2.04 × 10¹⁰ s^-1 (using a Stern-Volmer approach of solution data and the relationship between distance and concentration). This process was analyzed using the Förster theory, where two intrapore energy transfer paths of center-to-center distances of 13 and 25 Å have been identified. TFT-MOF photosensitizes the formation of singlet oxygen (¹O₂ (¹Σ_g)) as detected by its phosphorescence signal at 1275 nm.