Metal ion complexes of cyclam-cored dendrimers for molecular photonics

Because of its ability to form stable complexes with a wide variety of metal ions, cyclam (1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) is one of the most studied ligands in coordination chemistry. Functionalizing the cyclam unit with photoactive dendrons open a door to construct giant homo- and heteroleptic metal complexes that display interesting spectroscopic properties, particularly as far as luminescence is concerned. Light is a tool both to study metal coordination processes, and to act as input or output in order to achieve the desired function