Publications by authors named "Zhong-Min Cao"

Afterglow materials have garnered significant interest due to distinct photophysical characteristics. However, it is still difficult to achieve long afterglow phosphorescence from organic molecules due to aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and energy dissipation. In addition, most materials reported so far have long afterglow emission only at room or even low temperatures, and mainly use UV light as an excitation source.

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Achieving high guest loading and multiguest-binding capacity holds crucial significance for advancement in separation, catalysis, and drug delivery with synthetic receptors; however, it remains a challenging bottleneck in characterization of high-stoichiometry guest-binding events. Herein, we describe a large-sized coordination cage (MOC-70-ZnPd) possessing 12 peripheral pockets capable of accommodating multiple guests and a high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS)-based method to understand the solution host-guest chemistry. A diverse range of bulky guests, varying from drug molecules to rigid fullerenes as well as flexible host molecules of crown ethers and calixarenes, could be loaded into open pockets with high capacities.

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The structural dynamics of artificial assemblies, in aspects such as molecular recognition and structural transformation, provide us with a blueprint to achieve bioinspired applications. Here, we describe the assembly of redox-switchable chiral metal-organic cages Λ/Δ-[Pd(CoL)] and Λ/Δ-[Pd(CoL)]. These isomeric cages demonstrate an on-off chirality logic gate controlled by their chemical and stereostructural dynamics tunable through redox transitions between the labile Co-state and static Co-state with a distinct Cotton effect.

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A series of isostructural supramolecular cages with a rhombic dodecahedron shape have been assembled with distinct metal-coordination lability (M Pd -MOC-16, M=Ru , Fe , Ni , Zn ). The chirality transfer between metal centers generally imposes homochirality on individual cages to enable solvent-dependent spontaneous resolution of Δ /Λ -M Pd enantiomers; however, their distinguishable stereochemical dynamics manifests differential chiral phenomena governed by the cage stability following the order Ru Pd >Ni Pd >Fe Pd >Zn Pd . The highly labile Zn centers endow the Zn Pd cage with conformational flexibility and deformation, enabling intrigue chiral-Δ /Λ -Zn Pd to meso-Δ Λ -Zn Pd transition induced by anions.

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Molecular recognition lies at the heart of biological functions, which inspires lasting research in artificial host syntheses to mimic biomolecules that can recognize, process, and transport molecules with the highest level of complexity; nonetheless, the design principle and quantifying methodology of artificial hosts for multiple guests (≥4) remain a formidable task. Herein, we report two rhombic dodecahedral cages [(Zn/Fe)Pd-MOC-16], which embrace 12 adaptive pockets for multiguest binding with distinct conformational dynamics inherent in metal-center lability and are able to capture 4-24 guests to manifest a surprising complexity of binding scenarios. The exceptional high-order and hierarchical encapsulation phenomena suggest a wide host-guest dynamic-fit, enabling conformational adjustment and adaptation beyond the duality of induced-fit and conformational selection in protein interactions.

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Porous supramolecular assemblies constructed by noncovalent interactions are promising for adsorptive purification of methane because of their easy regeneration. However, the poor stability arising from the weak noncovalent interactions has obstructed their practical applications. Here, we report a robust and easily regenerated polyhedron-based cationic framework assembled from a metal-organic square.

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