A Binary Supramolecular Assembly with Intense Fluorescence Emission, High pH Stability, and Cation Selectivity: Supramolecular Assembly-Induced Emission Materials

We construct a fluorescent supramolecular system (TPE-Q 4 ⊂ DSP5) of excellent tolerance to a wide range of pH by the facile self-assembly of a new pillar [ 5 ] arene bearing disulfonated arms (DSP5) with an AIE-active tetraphenylethene-based tetratopic guest bearing four quaternary ammonium binding sites (TPE-Q 4 ), which exhibits strong blue emission even in dilute aqueous solutions along with much higher quantum yield and longer fluorescence lifetime than TPE-Q 4 itself. This appreciable property can be attributed to the supramolecular assembly-induced emission (SAIE) mechanism endowed by the host-guest inclusion complexation based on synthetic macrocycles. Remarkably, the enhanced fluorescence of the supramolecular assembly is quenched efficiently and exclusively by ferric ions in water with a high Stern–Volmer formula constant of 1.3 × 10 5 m o l - 1 , demonstrating the excellent cation selectivity and visualized responsiveness in ion sensing and detection.