l-Tartaric acid assisted binary organogel system: strongly enhanced fluorescence induced by supramolecular assembly

A new series of binary organogels, which showed good gelated capability and strongly enhanced fluorescence emission, were designed and prepared by simply mixing two components of L-tartaric acid and alkoxyl substituted stilbazoles. It was found that L-tartaric acid could not only introduce stilbazole with fluorescent property into the gel system, but also provided a main motif for the formation of the gel-phase via multiple hydrogen bonds. Meanwhile, π–π interactions between the complexes also played a key role in the gel formation. The decreased nonradiative process, suggested by the longer fluorescent lifetime of aggregates than that of monomers and the presence of the J-aggregation for the aggregated state, favored the enhanced fluorescence emission.