Preparation of a fixed-tetraphenylethylene motif bridged ditopic benzo-21-crown-7 and its application for constructing AIE supramolecular polymers

Abstract Benzo-21-crown-7 (B21C7) is one of the most important crown ethers, which not only shows excellent physicochemical properties but also exhibits promising binding capability with dialkylammonium salts. In this paper, we designed and synthesized a fixed-tetraphenylethylene (FTPE) motif bridged ditopic benzo-21-crown-7 molecule (H). The fixed tetraphenylethylene motif endows H with aggregation induced emission (AIE) property. In the presence of a ditopic dialkylammonium salt guest molecule (G), a fluorescent supramolecular polymer with golden luminescent property could be fabricated. This B21C7-based host-guest supramolecular polymer with golden fluorescence may have potential application in dynamic luminescent materials.