Luminescent Amine Chemisorption of Amines to Copper(I) CyanideRobert D. Pike, Department of Chemistry, College of William & Mary

Photoactive materials that are responsive to volatile organic compounds have the potential to act as environmental sensors. Copper(I) cyanide spontaneously reacts with heated liquid amines to form polymeric compounds, (CuCN)Ln. When exposed to liquid or vapor at ambient temp., (CuCN)Ln is chemisorbed onto the surface of bulk CuCN and can be removed under vacuum. Luminescence behavior has been noted for these materials (whether as surface layers or as pure compounds). Remarkable response selectivity toward similar amines has been noted.

Emission of (CuCN)Ln samples under 254 nm irradiation.

amine (l), heat

amine (l) or (g)

vacuum

vacuum

visible luminescence

visible luminescence

visible luminescence

CuCN: UVluminescence

CuCN: UVluminescence

X-ray structures of (CuCN)(2-methylpyridine), (CuCN)3(piperidine)4.

X-Ray powder diffraction of chemisorbed CuCN-pyridine product, comparing it to CuCN and authentic (CuCN)5(Py)4

Reaction pathways for CuCN + L, upper: irreversible reaction, lower: reversible chemisorption