Abstract
Luminogens with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics are nowadays undergoing explosive development in the fields of imaging, process visualization, diagnosis and therapy. However, exploration of an AIE luminogen (AIEgen) system allowing for extremely wide color tunability remains challenging. In this contribution, the facile synthesis of triphenylamine (TPA)-thiophene building block-based AIEgens having tunable maximum emission wavelengths covering violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, deep red and NIR regions is reported. The obtained AIEgens can be utilized as extraordinary fluorescent probes for lipid droplet (LD)-specific cell imaging and cell fusion assessment, showing excellent image contrast to the cell background and high photostability, as well as satisfactory visualization outcomes. Interestingly, quantitative evaluation of the phototherapy effect demonstrates that one of these presented AIEgens, namely TTNIR, performs well as a photosensitizer for photodynamic ablation of cancer cells upon white light irradiation. This study thus provides useful insights into rational design of fluorescence systems for widely tuning emission colors with high brightness, and remarkably extends the applications of AIEgens.
Highlights
The exploration of uorescent materials and technologies has opened new avenues to scienti c advancement, societal development and public health,[1] which is exempli ed by the Nobel Prize successively awarded to uorescence-related research
Numerous AIE luminogen (AIEgen) have been constructed on the basis of different structural motifs including tetraphenylethene,[8] hexaphenylsilole,[9] tetraphenylpyrazine[10] and distyrylanthracene,[11] to the best of our knowledge, there has been no single aggregation-induced emission (AIE) system which allows arbitrarily tuning emissions ranging from each color of visible light to the nearinfrared (NIR) region
All compounds are composed of sufficient moieties that can freely rotate in the single-molecule state leading to energy consumption of the excited state through non-radiative pathways, ensuring that these compounds are weakly emissive in solution
Summary
The exploration of uorescent materials and technologies has opened new avenues to scienti c advancement, societal development and public health,[1] which is exempli ed by the Nobel Prize successively awarded to uorescence-related research. It was observed that compounds TTB, TTG, TTY, TTO, TTR, TTDR and TTNIR exhibit typical AIE features (Fig. 3C).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
