Self-assembly and functionalization of lipophilic metal-triazole complexes in various media

An aspect of nanochemistry, which has attracted significant attention, is the formation of one-dimensional (1D) nanofibers from the self-assembly of metal complexes. The fabrication of nanoarchitectures from such complexes, based on the design of compounds, which show cooperative functionalities, is currently seen as one of the important goals within the field of nanomaterials. In this review, we describe methods that allow the tuning of the intermolecular interactions between metal-triazole complexes, whether in solution, thin films or liquid crystals. The lipophilic triazole ligand 1 (C₁₂OC ₃Trz) has been designed such that an ether linkage exists in the alkyl chain moiety. This flexible ether linkage enhances the solubility of various complexes of this ligand (including [Co^II(1) ₃]Cl₂ and [Fe^II(1)₃]Cl₂) in organic media and also improves the packing efficiency of the alkyl chains. Such lipophilic modifications of 1D coordination systems can result in dynamic structural transformations leading to unique solution properties, including heat-set gel-like networks, guest-induced structural changes, electrochemical transformations and spin crossover state switching. The supramolecular chemistry of 1D metal complexes is unprecedented in its scope and potential applications, and it is hoped that the studies presented herein will provide new information to promote further investigation of dynamic supramolecular devices.