Cholesterol-aided construction of distinct self-organized materials from a luminescent gold(I)-isocyanide complex exhibiting mechanochromic luminescence.

A cholesterol-functionalized gold(i)-isocyanide complex exhibiting mechanochromic luminescence properties was self-organized into distinct microscopic structures with different photoluminescence properties through vapor-diffusion of a poor solvent into its dichloromethane solution. The structure-optical property relationship of these microstructures could be related to the mechanically induced phase transition.