Facile and Equipment-Free Data Encryption and Decryption by Self-Encrypting Pt(II) Complex.

Luminescence switching materials (LSMs) are vital to various data security-related techniques including data encryption-decryption. Here we reported a family of supramolecular isomers based on a diimine-platinum(II) complex, Pt(Me3SiC≡CbpyC≡CSiMe3)(C≡CC6H4Br-3)2 (1) and systematically studied the influence of stacking modes on luminescence switching behaviors. Upon exposure to heat or THF vapor, these isomers exhibit unusual stacking mode-intervened luminescence switching (SMILS) property that non-columnar and quasi-columnar isomers undergo single- and multi-step conversion processes respectively to same non-columnar products. Systematic studies revealed that the unique SMILS behavior is caused by the existence of kinetically favorable intermediates as well as the joint efforts from both kinetics and thermodynamics. Such new property lead to the self-encryption function of 1 which is very important for improving the existing data encryption-decryption technique. On this basis, we developed a facile, reusable, equipment-free technique with 1 as the only starting material and realized data encryption-decryption successfully.