Synthesis of thermosensitive polyether - Gold nanoparticle hybrids connected via terpyridine metal complexes and their thermosensitive optical and redox properties

We prepare 2,2':6',2"-terpyridine-modified thermosensitive polyethers, followed by synthesis of asymmetric terpyridine-ruthenium complex bearing a thermosensitive polyether and an alkanethiol group (Scheme 1). This asymmetric complexes are modified to the surface of gold nanoparticles via Au-S bonding. The resulting gold nanoparticle hybrids reveal reversible phase transition behavior over a narrow range of temperature around the clouding temperature (T_C) of the thermosensitive segment in water (Figure 1). The temperature dependence of the optical, electrochemical characteristic will be examined.