Mo Xie, Xiao-Ru Chen, Kun Wu, Zhou Lu, Kai Wang, Nan Li, Rong-Jia Wei, Shun-Ze Zhan, Guo-Hong Ning, * Bo Zou * and Dan Li *
limited to pure organic compounds and fluorescence. In this work, a Cu3Pz3 (Cu3, Pz: pyrazolate) cyclic trinuclear complex (CTC) with two different crystalline polymorphs, namely 1a and 1b, was synthesized. The CTC consists of two functional moieties: carbazole (Cz) chromophore and Cu3 units. In crystals of 1a, discrete Cz–Cu3–Cu3–Cz stacking was found, showing abnormal pressure-induced phosphorescence enhancement (PIPE), which was 12 times stronger at 2.23 GPa compared to under ambient conditions. This novel observation is ascribed to cooperation between heavy-atom effects (i.e., from Cu atoms) and metal–ligand charge-transfer promotion. The infinite p–p stacking of Cz motifs was observed in 1b and it exhibited good piezochromism as the pressure increased. This work demonstrates a new concept in the design of piezochromic materials to achieve PIPE via combining organic chromophores and metal– organic phosphorescence emitters.
