Counterion Effects in Angewandte

Our latest paper is online at Angewandte Chemie, detailing how emissive organic cations can be brought together in space under the direction of certain counterions, changing their photophysical properties. We worked with the N-methylquininium cation, which we’ve published on previously, and showed that it can either give rise to monomer, excimer, or dimer emission, depending on which anion is present. Trifluoroacetate and methyl sulfate ions are particularly effective as the glue to stick two cations together, whereas the triflate anion gives emission arising from all three different states. Congratulations to the whole team who worked on the paper, especially PhD student and lead author Ash Carter.