Organic supramolecular room-temperature phosphorescence featuring profound dependence on host–guest binding behaviors

Recent years have witnessed tremendous progresses in the field of cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n])-based organic supramolecular room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP). However, it is still necessary to extend and enrich the research of relationship between phosphorescence property and host–guest binding behaviors. Herein, three guest compounds (G1, G2 and G3), featuring the same luminescence core (4-(4-bromophenyl)-1-methylpyridinium chloride) and the relatively similar molecular phosphorescence properties, can form 1:1 complexes with phCB[6] respectively in an order of descending enwrapping degrees (phCB[6]/G1 > phCB[6]/G2 > phCB[6]/G3), along with which The RTP quantum yields of these three supramolecular complexes in solid state show a distinctly decreasing trend, thereby demonstrating an obvious influence of host–guest binding behaviors on phosphorescence performance. This work may provide a new idea for the design of high-performance RTP materials.