Spontaneous formation of fluorescent nanofibers and reticulated solid from berberine palmitate: a new example of aggregation-induced emission enhancement in organic ion pairs

A simple and efficient metal free, additive, or base free dehydrogenation of tetrahydroisoquinolines using oxygen as a clean oxidant

Metal free dehydrogenation of various substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines via a simple and convenient metal free, atom economical route for the synthesis of corresponding isoquinolines under oxygen atmosphere in N-methyl-2-pyrollidone (NMP) is described. Metal free dehydrogenation was carried out without the use of additive or base. A scope of the methodology was demonstrated for a number of aryl and heteroaryl substitutions present at C1 position and ester moiety at C3 position and was found to be good substrates. Substituted isoquinolines (3a–3h) and their esters (3i–3m) were synthesized in very good to excellent yields.

Highly selective fluorescent visual detection of perfluorooctane sulfonate via blue fluorescent carbon dots and berberine chloride hydrate

As a kind of emerging persistent organic pollutants, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and its salts have caused global ecosystem pollution. To develop rapid, sensitive and low-cost detection method of PFOS is of great importance. In this work, a novel sensing method has been proposed for the highly selective fluorescent visual detection of PFOS in aqueous solution based on carbon dots (CDs) and berberine chloride hydrate (BH). It was found that the fluorescence of CDs decreased apparently in the presence of berberine chloride hydrate in pH 6.09 Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer solution. When PFOS was added to the system, the fluorescence was restored slightly at 448 nm and enhanced apparently at 533 nm, but no phenomenon occurred with other perfluorinated compounds. As a consequence, an obviously distinguishable fluorescence color variation (from blue to light yellow) of solution was observed. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the enhanced fluorescence intensities at 533 nm are in proportion to the concentration of PFOS in the range of 0.22-50.0 μmol/L (R² = 0.9919), with a detection limit of 21.7 nmol/L (3σ). The proposed approach has been successfully applied to the detection of PFOS in environmental water samples with RSD ≤ 1.1%.

Copper-Catalyzed Benign and Efficient Oxidation of Tetrahydroisoquinolines and Dihydroisoquinolines Using Air as a Clean Oxidant

A green chemical method for mild oxidation of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines (THIQs) and 3,4-dihydroisoquinolines (DHIQs) has been developed using air (O₂) as a clean oxidant. DHIQs and THIQs could be efficiently oxidized to isoquinolines in dimethyl sulfoxide at 25 °C under an open air atmosphere with CuBr₂ (20 mol %) as the catalyst; different bases [NaOEt and/or 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene] were used for the reaction according to the patterns of substituents (R¹, R²).

A comparative study of nine berberine salts in the solid state: optimization of the photoluminescence and self-association properties through the choice of the anion

Counter-ions regulate the photoluminescence and self-association properties of berberine salts.

Unusual Aggregation-Induced Emission of a Coumarin Derivative as a Result of the Restriction of an Intramolecular Twisting Motion

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is commonly observed for propeller-like luminogens with aromatic rotors and stators. Herein, we report that a coumarin derivative containing a seven-membered aliphatic ring (CD-7) but no rotors showed typical AIE characteristics, whereas its analogue with a five-membered aliphatic ring (CD-5) exhibited an opposite aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. Experimental and theoretical results revealed that a large aliphatic ring in CD-7 weakens structural rigidity and promotes out-of-plane twisting of the molecular backbone to drastically accelerate nonradiative excited-state decay, thus resulting in poor emission in solution. The restriction of twisting motion in aggregates blocks the nonradiative decay channels and enables CD-7 to fluoresce strongly. The results also show that AIE is a general phenomenon and not peculiar to propeller-like molecules. The AIE and ACQ effects can be switched readily by the modulation of molecular rigidity.

Fluorescent organic ion pairs based on berberine: counter-ion effect on the formation of particles and on the uptake by colon cancer cells

Counter-ions modulate the fluorescence of berberine ion pairs in cells, this process being possibly linked to the formation of nanoparticles.

Effect of ionic interaction on the mechanochromic properties of pyridinium modified tetraphenylethene

Introducing ionic interaction into a soft tetraphenylethene-based AIE-molecule furnished the compound with robust mechanochromic effects while exhibiting aggregation-induced emission enhancement properties.

Aggregation-induced emission: the whole is more brilliant than the parts

"United we stand, divided we fall."--Aesop. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) refers to a photophysical phenomenon shown by a group of luminogenic materials that are non-emissive when they are dissolved in good solvents as molecules but become highly luminescent when they are clustered in poor solvents or solid state as aggregates. In this Review we summarize the recent progresses made in the area of AIE research. We conduct mechanistic analyses of the AIE processes, unify the restriction of intramolecular motions (RIM) as the main cause for the AIE effects, and derive RIM-based molecular engineering strategies for the design of new AIE luminogens (AIEgens). Typical examples of the newly developed AIEgens and their high-tech applications as optoelectronic materials, chemical sensors and biomedical probes are presented and discussed.

Weak C-H···X (X = O, N) hydrogen bonds in the crystal structure of dihydroberberine

Dihydroberberine (systematic name: 9,10-dimethoxy-6,8-dihydro-5H-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-g]isoquinolino[3,2-a]isoquinoline), C20H19NO4, a reduced form of pharmacologically important berberine, crystallizes from ethanol without interstitial solvent. The molecule shows a dihedral angle of 27.94 (5)° between the two arene rings at the ends of the molecule, owing to the partial saturation of the inner quinolizine ring system. Although lacking classical O-H or N-H donors, the packing in the crystalline state is clearly governed by C-H···N and C-H···O hydrogen bonds involving the two acetal-type C-H bonds of the 1,3-dioxole ring. Each dihydroberberine molecule is engaged in four hydrogen bonds with neighbouring molecules, twice as donor and twice as acceptor, thus forming a two-dimensional sheet network that lies parallel to the (100) plane.

Color- and morphology-controlled self-assembly of new electron-donor-substituted aggregation-induced emission compounds

Four electron-donor-substituted aggregation-induced emission (AIE) compounds, N,N'-bis(4-methoxylsalicylidene)-p-phenylenediamine (BSPD-OMe), N,N'-bis(4-methylsalicylidene)-p-phenylenediamine (BSPD-Me), N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-p-phenylenediamine (BSPD), and N,N'-bis(4-hydroxylsalicylidene)-p-phenylenediamine (BSPD-OH), are designed and synthesized. They are all found to exhibit controlled self-assembly behaviors and good thermal properties. By changing the terminal electron-donor groups, they are controlled to self-assemble into three emission colors (green, yellow, and orange) and four morphologies (microblocks, microparticles, microrods, and nanowires) in THF/water mixtures. Their self-assembled structures were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescent microscopy images, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) techniques. In addition, the emission colors of BSPD-OH can be successfully controlled to three colors (green → yellow → orange) through simply changing the water fraction (fw). Their thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicate that their thermal decomposition temperatures (Td, corresponding to 5% weight loss) range from 282 to 319 °C. Their differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data show that BSPD-OH bears a glass-transition temperature (Tg) of 118 °C. The good Td and Tg values will ensure them to be luminogens for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The theoretical calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of BSPD-OMe and BSPD suggest that the stronger electron donor substituent can twist the molecular conformation, decrease the degree of π conjugation, increase the energy gap, and then induce the emission colors' blue shift and morphology variation. The results are meaningful in controlling the emission colors and self-assembly shapes of these derivatives, and they also provide a novel but facile way to get color-tunable AIE luminogens for OLEDs.

Optical materials based on molecular nanoparticles

A major part of contemporary nanomaterials research is focused on metal and semiconductor nanoparticles, constituted of extended lattices of atoms or ions. Molecular nanoparticles assembled from small molecules through non-covalent interactions are relatively less explored but equally fascinating materials. Their unique and versatile characteristics have attracted considerable attention in recent years, establishing their identity and status as a novel class of nanomaterials. Optical characteristics of molecular nanoparticles capture the essence of their nanoscale features and form the basis of a variety of applications. This review describes the advances made in the field of fabrication of molecular nanoparticles, the wide spectrum of their optical and nonlinear optical characteristics and explorations of the potential applications that exploit their unique optical attributes.

Facile access to highly fluorescent nanofibers and microcrystals via reprecipitation of 2-phenyl-benzoxazole derivatives

2-Phenyl-benzoxazole and five derivatives bearing an alkyl or alkoxy substituent on the phenyl ring were used to prepare aqueous suspensions of particles via a solvent-exchange method. In these conditions, the methyl and methoxy derivatives spontaneously gave nanofibers, while the other compounds led to microcrystals. This shows that minor chemical changes are enough to direct the formation of a given type of particle. From a spectroscopic viewpoint, all compounds strongly emit blue light in the solid state, with spectra much broader than those registered in n-heptane and ethanol solutions. The photoluminescence quantum yields reached 38% and were slightly affected in aqueous suspension by the polarity of the environment. The molecular arrangement, deduced from X-ray analysis for the methyl and methoxy derivatives, was used to explain the fluorescence properties in the solid state. This work shows that 2-phenyl-benzoxazole derivatives are interesting candidates for applications as fluorescent nanomaterials, including in aqueous and biological media.