Multicolor Tunable Emission from Organogels Containing Tetraphenylethene, Perylenediimide, and Spiropyran Derivatives

Abstract

Abstract A dendron‐substituted tetraphenylethene low molecular weight gelator (LMWG)compound, LMWG 1, is designed and investigated. Gelation‐induced fluorescence enhancement is observed for the gel based on LMWG 1 and its fluorescence can be reversibly tuned by varying the temperature of the ensemble. The photoinduced energy‐transfer can occur between LMWG 1 and PI 2 (perylene diimide) in the gel phase, but it cannot occur in the corresponding solution. The emission color of the gel of LMWG 1 and PI 2 can be tuned from cyan, yellow, to red by varying the concentration of PI 2 . By taking advantage of the photochromic transformation of spiropyran, the emission color of the organogels based on LMWG 1 and SP 3 can be switched by alternating UV and visible‐light irradiations. The emission color can also be tuned by varying the irradiation time. In this way, organogels based on LMWG 1 with multiemission color can be achieved in the presence of SP 3 after light irradiations.