Construction of an Artificial Light-Harvesting System with Efficient Photocatalytic Activity in an Aqueous Solution Based on a FRET-Featuring Metallacage
Jia, P.-P.; Hu, Y.-X.; Peng, Z.-Y.; Song, B.; Zeng, Z.-Y.; Ling, Q.-H.; Zhao, X.; Xu, L.; Yang, H.-B.
Inorganic Chemistry 2022
2022
ISSN/ISBN: 1520-510X PMID: 35939800 Accession: 080175628
Over the past few decades, the design and construction of high-efficiency artificial light-harvesting systems (LHSs) involving multistep fluorescence-resonance energy transfer (FRET) processes have gradually received considerable attention within wide fields ranging from supramolecular chemistry to chemical biology and even materials science. Herein, through coordination-driven self-assembly, a novel tetragonal prismatic metallacage featuring a FRET process using tetraphenylethene (TPE) units as donors and BODIPY units as acceptors has been conveniently synthesized. Subsequently, taking advantage of supramolecular hydrophobic interactions, a promising artificial LHS involving two-step FRET processes from TPE to BODIPY and then to Nile Red (NiR) has been successfully fabricated in an aqueous solution using the FRET-featuring metallacage, NiR, and an amphiphilic polymer (mPEG-DSPE). Notably, this obtained aqueous LHS exhibits highly efficient photocatalytic activity in the dehalogenation of a bromoacetophenone derivate. This study provides a unique strategy for fabricating artificial LHSs in aqueous solutions with multistep FRET processes and further promotes the future development of mimicking the photosynthesis process.