Acene enlargement for absorption red-shifting and photosensitization enhancement of photosensitizers with aggregation-induced emission

作者：Wang, Qiang; Li, Chunbin; Song, Yuchen; Shi, Qiankun; Li, Heng; Zhong, Hua^*; Wang, Jianguo^*; Hu, Fang^*

来源：Chemical Science, 2023, 14(3): 684-690.

DOI：10.1039/d2sc05454j

• PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY
• EFFICIENT PHOTOSENSITIZERS
• MOLECULE
• CANCER

Photosensitizers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE PSs) were widely explored in photodynamic therapy. Numerous acceptors but few donors were reported to design AIE PSs. In this study, we developed a new kind of donor that can improve the comprehensive performance of AIE PSs by expanding the pi extension of aromatic rings at the end of the triphenylamine group through acene enlargement. The absorption and fluorescence peaks of anthryl-substituted AIE PS are red-shifted by 29 nm and 42 nm; the photosensitization efficiency is enhanced by 1.16 times; the AIE factor is 86.1 and the fluorescence quantum yield is 9.3%. We also demonstrated that the anthryl-based AIE PS can image and ablate cancer cells well both in vitro and in vivo. The anthryl-triphenylamine donor provides an excellent option to design donor-acceptor AIE PSs with high comprehensive performance.

• 单位
  南方医科大学; 5