The Ag₁₀ Cluster-Based One-Dimensional Silver-Thiolate Assembly: Structural Architecture and Photophysical Properties

Silver clusters create the most aesthetic structures compared with other group-11 metal systems, but structural instability often hinders probing their in-depth optoelectronic properties. Assembling these clusters to higher dimensions provides the needed stability and creates a platform to underscore the dimensionality-dependent photophysical properties. Here, we synthesized a one-dimensional ladder-like architecture by interconnecting [Ag10(tBuS)6(CF3COO)6]2– cluster through a 4,4′-trimethylene dipyridine linker. The 1D chains are stacked in an AAAA fashion in the c direction and an ABAB fashion in the a direction to form a three-dimensionally supramolecular extended solid. Steady-state and transient emission experiments probed at room temperature and 77 K showed the presence of triplets with lifetime >50 μs at 77 K and room temperature reverse intersystem crossing. The detailed photophysical study proposed that this one-dimensional assembly acquires a large window of radiative recombination and its dynamics as a function of external stimuli.