Highly ordered π-extended discotic liquid-crystalline triindoles. In this Hot Paper a team of Spanish chemists create discotic liquid crystals based on a heptacyclic triindole arrangement. The team claim that attaching groups to the indole rings offers a great opportunity to tune the properties of these liquid crystals making them suitable for incorporation into devices. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0JM04395H Advance Article)
Solid-state photochemical and photomechanical properties of molecular crystal nanorods composed of anthracene ester derivatives. A series of photoresponsive molecular crystal nanorods have been created by a team from USA, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. The photomechanical response of the nanorods is determined by a metastable crystalline intermediate that slowly converts into the low energy solution grown dimer crystal structure over a course of weeks. The team says that the photomechanical response of these structures arises from nonequilibrium crystal forms and cannot be predicted from the equilibrium reactant and product crystals. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C1JM10228A Advance Article)
FRET-based probe for fluoride based on a phosphorescent iridium(III) complex containing triarylboron groups. A FRET-based F− probe based on carbazole-fluorene-carbazole as the fluorescent donor and a dimesitylboryl group-functionalized cationic Ir(III) complex as the phosphorescent acceptor has been designed by Chinese scientists. The introduction of dimesitylboryl groups to the Ir(III) complex unit leads to red-shifted and more intense absorption and phosphorescence emission. In addition, the FRET efficiency from the fluorescent donor to the phosphorescent acceptor is enhanced significantly. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI:10.1039/C1JM00071C Advance Article)
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