AIE-based donor-acceptor-donor fluorenone compound as multi-functional luminescence materials

• Published in: Materials chemistry frontiers Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 758 - 7517
• Main Authors: Du, Xianchao, Su, Huifang, Zhao, Li, Xing, Xiaojing, Wang, Bingnan, Qiu, Dongfang, Wang, Jinyi, Yuan, Mao-Sen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Royal Society of Chemistry 11.10.2021
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Crystals; Fluorescence; Hydrogen bonding; Hydrostatic pressure; Luminescence; Monoclonal antibodies; Morphology; Phase transitions; Stimuli
• ISSN: 2052-1537; 2052-1537
• DOI: 10.1039/d1qm00856k

The development of novel luminescent materials with multi-stimuli responsive and multi-functional properties is required. In this work, we designed and synthesized a novel AIE-based fluorenone derivative, MBPF . The donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) structure promoted the intermolecular hydrogen bonding capacity of the exposed oxygen atom in fluorenone. MBPF displayed three different aggregation morphologies: an amorphous floccule Y-MBPF with yellow-green luminescence, a block crystal O-MBPF with orange luminescence, and a needlelike crystal R-MBPF with red emission. They all exhibited reversible stimuli-response phase transitions to temperature and shear, accompanied by fluorescence switching. The orange crystal O-MBPF was also sensitive to isotropic hydrostatic pressure with prominent and contrasting luminescent conversion. Furthermore, we prepared MBPF nanocrystallites and encapsulated them with DSPE-PEG and the monoclonal antibody cetuximab (C225) to obtain MBPF-C225 NPs, which were biocompatible and photostable. They could be used for specific cancer cell imaging through receptor-mediated endocytosis. A novel fluorenone-based luminescent material with multi-stimuli responsive and multi-functional properties is reported.