Photoluminescence Properties of Liquid-Crystalline Gold Complexes Depending on Their Aggregated Structure

Abstract

Gold(I) complexes have received much attention as promising light-emitting materials because they strongly luminesce in condensed phases owing to an aurophilic interaction. The aurophilic interaction depends on the distance between two gold atoms; therefore, the luminescent behavior of gold complexes can be changed by controlling their aggregated structures. We have focused on the liquid-crystallinity of gold complexes to control their aggregated structure, and have developed various liquid-crystalline (LC) gold complexes, in which photoluminescence behavior can be switched easily by phase transition. In this work, we designed and synthesized novel LC gold complexes with a different mesogenic core unit in order to figure out the relationship between structure of molecules/molecular aggregates and photoluminescence properties.