Photochemical [2 + 2] polymerization of metal-organic gels of a rigid and angular diene with silver-salts of diverse anions: selective dye-sorption and luminescence by xerogels

Two similar types of dienes, one rigid and the other flexible, were explored for their gel formation abilities with Ag( i ) salts. The rigid and angular dienes have shown an exceptional ability for gel formation with silver salts of nitrate, triflate, tetrafluoro borate and hexafluorophosphate. These metal-organic gels (MOGs) and their xerogels are found to have an excellent ability to undergo the photochemical [2 + 2] polymerization reaction upon irradiation. The reactions were monitored, and the products were characterized via 1 H NMR and MALDI-TOF analyses. Further, the solid-state luminescence behaviour and the selective dye-sorption of the gels have been explored before and after the photo-polymerization reaction. Four Ag( i ) metal-organic gels (MOGs) of an angular rigid diene were found to undergo [2 + 2] photo-polymerization reactions both in gel and xerogel states. The xerogels of these MOGs exhibit selective dye-sorption and luminescence properties.