Research progress on aggregation induced emission probes with tetraphenylethene structure for biological imaging and drug delivery

Abstract

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probes show high sensitivity, high quantum yield and can be synthesized conveniently. Organic molecules with AIE characteristics have attracted much attention from scientists. With the exploration of molecular structure and theoretical knowledge of AIEs, the developed probes can image cells and microbes selectivity, and deliver drugs effectively, which has an important role in promoting the biological application of organic molecular probes. In this review, we focus on the application of tetraphenylethylene derivatives with AIE characteristics in cell and microbial recognition imaging, targeted delivery and antibacterial properties in recent years, and provide references for the follow-up research work.