Competitive supramolecular assembly tunes anthracene emission over 165 nm via controlled π-overlap

Abstract

Competition among hydrogen-bonding and B←N coordination in assemblies of p‑nitrophenylboronic acid and 9,10‑bis(pyridin‑4‑ylethynyl)anthracene yields five distinct crystalline phases. The quantitative variation in anthracene π‑overlap area (0~64.5%) directly governs the solid-state emission, enabling tuning from 569 to 734 nm, thereby establishing a clear structure–property relationship.