Acid-induced tunable white light emission based on triphenylamine derivatives

[2,2] Paracyclophanes-based double helicates for constructing artificial light-harvesting systems and white LED device

The construction of efficient artificial light-harvesting systems (ALHSs) is of vital importance in utilizing solar energy. Herein, we report the non-covalent syntheses of double helicates PCP-TPy1/2 and Rp,Rp-PCP-TPy1/2 by metal-coordination interaction and their applications in ALHSs and white light-emitting diode (LED) device. All double helicates exhibit significant aggregation-induced emission in tetrahydrofuran/water (1:9, v/v) solvent. The aggregated double helicates can be used to construct one-step or sequential ALHSs with fluorescent dyes Eosin Y (EsY) and Nile red (NiR) with the energy transfer efficiency up to 89.3%. Impressively, the PMMA film of PCP-TPy1 shows white-light emission when doped 0.075% NiR, the solid of double helicates (Rp,Rp-) PCP-TPy2 can be used as the additive of a blue LED bulb to achieve white-light emission. In this work, we provided a general method for the preparation of novel double helicates and explored their applications in ALHSs and fluorescent materials, which will promote future construction and application of helicates as emissive devices.

A water-soluble naphthalimide fluorescent probe for Cr2O72- and Fe3+ based on inner filter effect

A probe 3 (2-ethoxy-N-(2-(2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethyl)-1,3-dioxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[de] isoquinolin-6-yl)benzamide) that could selectively respond to Cr₂O₇^2- and Fe³⁺ was reported in this paper. The selectivity, pH titration, concentration titration, detection limit, time dependence, quenching constant and recognition mechanism of probe 3 for Cr₂O₇^2- and Fe³⁺ were studied in CH₃CN/HEPES buffer solution. The results showed that Cr₂O₇^2- and Fe³⁺ could rapidly quench the fluorescence of probe 3 through the inner filter effect (IFE). The quenching kept constant after 30 s, and the quenching constants were 7.99 × 10³ L^.mol^-1 and 4.13 × 10³ L^.mol^-1, respectively. The detection limits of probe 3 for Cr₂O₇^2- and Fe³⁺ were 1.15 μmol^.L^-1 and 1.95 μmol^.L^-1, respectively, which were lower than the maximum allowable concentrations in drinking water stipulated by EPA. The determination results of Cr₂O₇^2- and Fe³⁺ in water samples indicated that probe 3 could be used as a potential detection tool in practical applications.

Pt(II) metallacycles encapsulated by ferritin enable precise cancer combination chemo-photodynamic therapy

Different from common anti-tumor drugs, organoplatinum(II) metallacycles can integrate imaging and other therapeutic capabilities by incorporating corresponding functional donor ligands to enable potential applications in biomedicine. However, most of the emerging therapeutic agents not only show poor solubility and selectivity but also have serious side effects and unsatisfactory efficacy and encounter the tendency to develop drug resistance due to their single treatment model. Herein, an organoplatinum(II) metallacycle (PtM) was designed and synthesized using coordination-driven self-assembly via the combination of a metallic chemotherapy precursor and a reactive oxygen species generating organic precursor. The hydrophobic PtM molecules were encapsulated in the cavity of human heavy chain ferritin (HFn) during the reassembly of HFn to prepare the active targeting nanoagent HFn-PtM for use in chemo-photodynamic combination therapy. The HFn-PtM nanoagents exhibited excellent stability in buffer (pH from 5 to 7.2), alleviating the concern of drug leakage during circulation. A cellular uptake assay indicated that HFn-PtM could efficiently enter specific cells that overexpress the transferrin receptor 1. In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor investigations revealed that HFn-PtM exhibited excellent anti-tumor efficiency with negligible systemic toxicity. This work provides a strategy for the easy construction of multifunctional organoplatinum-based tumor-targeted drugs.

Multicolor emission based on a N, N'-Disubstituted dihydrodibenzo [a, c] phenazine crown ether macrocycle

Dynamic fluorophore 9,14-diphenyl-9,14-dihydrodibenzo[a,c]phenazine (DPAC) affords a new platform to produce diverse emission outputs. In this paper, a novel DPAC-containing crown ether macrocycle D-6 is synthesized and characterized. Host-guest interactions of D-6 with different ammonium guests produced a variety of fluorescence with hypsochromic shifts up to 130 nm, which are found to be affected by choice of solvent or guest and host/guest stoichiometry. Formation of supramolecular complexes were confirmed by UV-vis titration, ¹H NMR and HRMS spectroscopy.

Probing the serum albumin binding site of fenamates and photochemical protein labeling with a fluorescent dye

Human serum albumin (HSA) can bind with numerous drugs, leading to a significant influence on drug pharmacokinetics as well as undesirable drug-drug interactions due to competitive binding. Probing the HSA drug binding site thus offers great opportunities to reveal drug-HSA binding profiles. In the present study, a fluorescent probe (E)-4-(2-(5-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)vinyl)-1-propylpyridin-1-ium (TTPy) has been prepared, which exhibits enhancement of deep-red to near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence upon HSA binding. The competitive binding assay indicated that TTPy can target the HSA binding site of fenamates, a group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), with moderate binding affinity (1.95 × 10⁶ M^-1 at 303 K). More interestingly, TTPy enables fluorescent labeling of HSA upon visible light irradiation. This study provides promising ways for HSA drug binding site identification and photochemical protein labeling.

A supramolecular dual-donor artificial light-harvesting system with efficient visible light-harvesting capacity

A supramolecular dual-donor artificial light-harvesting system with efficient visible light-harvesting capacity was constructed through the hierarchical self-assembly approach.