Synthetic Strategies for the Selective Functionalization of Carbon Nanodots Allow Optically Communicating Suprastructures

Abstract

The surface of Carbon Nanodots (CNDs) stands as a rich chemical platform, able to regulate the interactions between particles and external species. Performing selective functionalization of these nano- scale entities is of practical importance, however, it still represents a considerable challenge. In this work, we exploited the organic chemistry toolbox to install target functionalities on the CND surface, while monitoring the chemical changes on the material’s outer shell through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Fol- lowing this, we investigated the use of click chemistry to covalently connect CNDs of different nature en-route towards covalent suprastructures with unprecedent mo- lecular control. The different photophysical properties of the connected particles allowed their optical commu- nication in the excited state. This work paves the way for the development of selective and addressable CND building blocks which can act as modular nanoscale synthons that mirror the long-established reactivity of molecular organic synthesis.