Solvatochromism, Reversible Chromism and Self-Assembly Effects of Heteroatom-Assisted Aggregation-Induced Enhanced Emission (AIEE) Compounds.
Two compounds, 9,10-bis[2-(quinolyl)vinyl]anthracene (BQVA) and 9,10-bis[2-(naphthalen-2-yl)vinyl]anthracene (BNVA), have been synthesised and investigated. Both of them have aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE) properties. Heteroatom-assisted BQVA shows solvatochromism, reversible chromism properties and self-assembly effects. When increasing the solvent polarities, the green solution of BQVA turns to orange with a redshift of the fluorescence emission wavelengths from λ=527 to 565 nm. Notably, BQVA exhibits reversible chromism properties, including mechano- and thermochromism. The as-prepared BQVA powders show green fluorescence (λem=525 nm) and the colour can turn into orange (λem=573 nm) after grinding. Interestingly, the orange colour can return at high temperature. Based on these reversible chromism properties, a simple and convenient erasable board has been designed. Different from BQVA, non-heteroatom-assisted BNVA has no clear chromic processes. The results obtained from XRD, differential scanning calorimetry, single-crystal analysis and theoretical calculations indicate that the chromic processes depend on the heteroatoms in BQVA. Additionally, BQVA also exhibits excellent self-assembly effects in different solvents. Homogeneous nanospheres are formed in mixtures of tetrahydrofuran and water, which are then doped into silica nanoparticles and treated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane to give amino-functionalised nanoparticles (BQVA-AFNPs). The BQVAAFNPs could be used to stain protein markers in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Photochemistry, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P.R. China).
Caixia
C
Niu
Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Photochemistry, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P.R. China).
Ying
Y
You
Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Photochemistry, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P.R. China).
Liu
L
Zhao
Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Regulation Biology, Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P. R. China).
Dacheng
D
He
Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Photochemistry, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P.R. China).
Na
N
Na
Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Photochemistry, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 (P.R. China). jinoyang@bnu.edu.cn.
Jin
J
Ouyang
aggregation; nanoparticles; reversible chromism; self-assembly; solvatochromism