Physics

Organic chemistry

Thermochromism

Conjugated system

Quenching (fluorescence)

Excited state

Phosphorescence

Atomic physics

Chemistry

Materials science

Condensed matter physics

Triphenylamine

Acceptor

Quantum mechanics

Polymer

Photochemistry

Triplet state

Fluorescence

Nature Communications

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has proven to be a viable strategy to achieve highly efficient room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) in bulk by restricting molecular motions. Here, we show that by utilizing triphenylamine (TPA) as an electronic donor that connects to an acceptor via an sp 3 linker, six TPA-based AIE-active RTP luminophores were obtained. Distinct dual phosphorescence bands emitting from largely localized donor and acceptor triplet emitting states could be recorded at lowered temperatures; at room temperature, only a merged RTP band is present. Theoretical investigations reveal that the two temperature-dependent phosphorescence bands both originate from local/global minima from the lowest triplet excited state (T 1 ). The reported molecular construct serves as an intermediary case between a fully conjugated donor-acceptor system and a donor/acceptor binary mix, which may provide important clues on the design and control of high-freedom molecular systems with complex excited-state dynamics.

Thermochromic aggregation-induced dual phosphorescence via temperature-dependent sp3-linked donor-acceptor electronic coupling