Tetraarylimidazole-Based Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens and Their Cell-Imaging Application
Yang Zhao, Panpan Chen, Gaonan Li, Zhi‐Gang Niu, Enju Wang
Abstract
1,2,4,5-Tetraphenylimidazole takes a highly twisted propeller-like conformation, which results in its potential to be developed into aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active molecules.Herein, two tetraarylimidazole-based aggregationinduced emission luminogens (TAI-m and TAI-q) were easily synthesized through a one-pot, four-component reaction in high yields.Their structures were fully characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution mass spectra (HRMS).Furthermore, the crystal structures of them confirmed their highly twisted conformation.Both TAI-m and TAI-q exhibited good AIE properties.The self-aggregation nanoparticles and the pluronic F-127 encapsulated nanoparticles of them were prepared for comparative study of their cell imaging performance.The findings indicated that they showed the distinct staining behaviors.The cells stained with the self-aggregates showed clear cell outlines but fuzzy cell interiors.By comparison, the pluronic F-127 encapsulated nanoparticles can be distributed in the whole cell.