Descriptor Δ<i>G</i><sub>C‐O</sub> Enables the Quantitative Design of Spontaneously Blinking Rhodamines for Live‐Cell Super‐Resolution Imaging
Weijie Chi, Qinglong Qiao, Chao Wang, Jiazhu Zheng, Wei Zhou, Ning Xu, Xia Wu, Xiao Jiang, Davin Tan, Zhaochao Xu, Xiaogang Liu
Abstract
Abstract Herein, we reported a simple, fast, and quantitative theoretical descriptor Δ G C‐O that allows accurate predictions of a wide range of spontaneously blinking rhodamines. Δ G C‐O denotes the Gibbs free energy differences between the closed and open forms of rhodamines and has a good linear relationship with experimental p K cycl values. This correlation affords an effective guide for the quantitative designs of spontaneously blinking rhodamines and eliminates trial‐and‐error. We have validated the predictive power of Δ G C‐O via the development of two spontaneously blinking rhodamines of different colors and enhanced brightness. We also demonstrated their super‐resolution imaging utilities in dynamic live‐cell imaging. We expect that Δ G C‐O will greatly facilitate the efficient creations of spontaneously blinking fluorophores and aid the advancements of super‐resolution bioimaging techniques.