Solvent-induced supramolecular assemblies of crown-substituted ruthenium phthalocyaninate: morphology of assemblies and non-linear optical properties

Abstract

The information concerning the architecture of supramolecular assemblies, which are composed of ruthenium(II) tetra-15-crown-5-phthalocyaninate with axially coordinated triethylenediamine molecules, has been obtained with the application of atomic force microscopy. The ensembles are formed in Ru ( II ) complex solutions in chloroform and tetrachloroethane. The number of molecules and their relative orientation in supramolecular assemblies were estimated in dependence of the solvent (chloroform, tetrachloroethane) and the heating temperature. Samples fabricated after heating of the Ru ( II ) complexes solution in tetrachloroethane formed stable supramolecular wires of 600 nm and more in length. The third-order non-linear optical characteristics of complexes in tetrachloroethane solution were studied by the z-scanning method. Molecular polarizability of the complex is about 4.5 × 10-32 esu. The polarizability attributed to one molecule increases by a factor of 3.6 when the individual molecule assembles into a supramolecular aggregate.