Coordination Chemistry of a Controlled Burst of Zn in Bulk Aqueous and Nanosized Water Droplets with a Zincon Chelator.

The light-induced photolysis of [Zn(NTAdeCage)] generates a temporally controlled burst of Zn, which is rapidly chelated by the free ligand Zincon. The [Zn(Zincon)] coordination progress is monitored using absorption spectroscopy in bulk aqueous buffer and reverse micelle environments. The [Zn(NTAdeCage)] photocage and free ligand Zincon have different reverse micelle locations that affect the [Zn(Zincon)] formation at the nanoscale compared to the bulk aqueous buffer.