Controlled Supramolecular Assemblies of Luminescent Tridentate Cyclometalated Alkynyl Gold (III) Amphiphiles in Aqueous Media

Gold (III) complexes and amphiphiles have been extensively investigated over a decade. Supramolecular assemblies of the gold (III) amphiphiles in aqueous media exhibit high sensitivities to external stimulations for soft functional materials. Herein, we introduce a new molecular design of tridentate cyclometalated gold (III) amphiphile (GA) with flexible molecular structure modifications. Counterion exchange with sodium tosylate induces notable luminescent enhancement and enables controls over supramolecular assembly process. This approach drives a supramolecular assembly transformation of GA from disordered nanosheets to well-ordered nanoribbons upon additions of multiple equivalents of counterion, enabling a tunable pathway for controlled supramolecular transformation.