Crystal Structure, Fluorescence, and Nanostructuration Studies of the First ZnII Anthracene-Based Curcuminoid

In the following article the coordination properties of a recently reported curcuminoid 9Accm (9Accm = 1,7-(di-9-anthracene)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione) with ZnII are reported. Preparation, crystal structure, and fluorescence spectroscopic studies of [ZnII(9Accm)2(py)] (1) are presented, as well as preliminary AFM and confocal microscopy studies on graphite surfaces. Complex 1 is the first crystallographically characterized Zn–curcuminoid in the literature; the intrinsic features of the complex are contrasted with the free ligand, 9Accm, and [CuII(9Accm)2(py)] (2), a similar copper system, which has been recently described by us. It is shown that complex 1 exhibits a chelation enhancement of fluorescence (CHEF) and 2 a chelation enhancement of quenching (CHEQ) with respect to the fluorescence response of the free ligand, demonstrating the highly sensitive response of 9Accm versus these two metals. All studies are supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations.