A General Method to Develop Highly Environmentally Sensitive Fluorescent Probes and AIEgens

Advanced Science

卷:9

Xuefeng Jiang¹  Xin Li¹  Chao Wang²  Ying Gao²  Xiaogang Liu²  Yu Fang³  Jing Li³  Rong Miao³  Xiaoling Liu³  Dan Wang³ 

[1] College of Pharmaceutical Sciences Zhejiang University 866 Yuhangtang Street Hangzhou 310058 P. R. China;

[2] Fluorescence Research Group Singapore University of Technology and Design Somapah Road Singapore 487372 Singapore;

[3] Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloids Chemistry Ministry of Education School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Shaanxi Normal University Xi'an 710062 P. R. China;

关键词: AIEgens;    environmental sensitivity;    fluorescent probe;    N‐methylpyrrole;    twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT);   

DOI  :  10.1002/advs.202104609

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Environmentally sensitive fluorescent probes (including AIEgens) play pivotal roles in numerous biological studies. Many of these functional materials are developed based on the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) mechanism. However, the TICT tendency of dialkylated amino groups in biocompatible main‐stream fluorophores (i.e., coumarins and rhodamines) is weak, limiting their sensitivities. Herein, by replacing dialkylated amino donors with an N‐methylpyrrole group to enhance TICT, a simple and general method to engineer highly environmentally sensitive fluorescent probes is reported. This method yields a platter of colorful fluorescent probes that demonstrates outstanding polarity and viscosity sensitivity with large turn‐on ratios (up to 191 times for polarity and 14 times for viscosity), as well as distinct aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) characteristics. The utilities of these probes in both wash‐free bioimaging and protein detections are also successfully demonstrated. It is expected that this molecular design strategy will inspire the creation of many environmentally sensitive probes.

【 授权许可】

Unknown