Aggregation Effect on Multiperformance Improvement in Aryl-Armed Phenazine-Based Emitters

Qing Wan; Yuxuan Li; Keke Ding; Yili Xie; Jianzhong Fan; Jialin Tong; Zebing Zeng; Yin Li; Chunhui Zhao; Zhiming Wang; Ben Zhong Tang

doi:10.1021/jacs.2c09210

Aggregation Effect on Multiperformance Improvement in Aryl-Armed Phenazine-Based Emitters

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Jan 25;145(3):1607-1616. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c09210. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

Authors

Qing Wan¹, Yuxuan Li², Keke Ding³, Yili Xie⁴, Jianzhong Fan⁵, Jialin Tong², Zebing Zeng^{6

7}, Yin Li², Chunhui Zhao¹, Zhiming Wang², Ben Zhong Tang⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China.
² AIE Institute, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Center for Aggregation-Induced Emission, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Luminescence from Molecular Aggregates, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
³ Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi RD, Suzhou 215006, China.
⁴ College of Ecology and Environment, Yuzhang Normal University, Nanchang 330103, China.
⁵ Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing Technology, Institute of Materials and Clean Energy, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, China.
⁶ Shenzhen Research Institute of Hunan University, Shenzhen 518000, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, P. R. China.
⁸ Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China.

PMID: 36602463
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c09210

Abstract

The concept of aggregate science was proposed to explain changes in materials performance that accompany the generation of aggregates, but aggregation-triggered multifunction improvements in a class of materials have rarely been reported. Herein, we present the first report of a new class of multifunctional aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogens (AIEgens) based on 5,10-diarylphenazine (DPZ) derivates with full-wavelength emission. Intriguingly, multiple properties, such as fluorescence intensity and free radical and type I reactive oxygen species (ROS) efficiencies, could be simultaneously activated from the unimolecular level to the aggregate state. The mechanisms of this multiple performance improvement are discussed in detail based on sufficient performance characterization, and some of the newly prepared AIEgens exhibited toxicity to cancer cells during photodynamic therapy. This work systematically demonstrates the positive effect of aggregation on improving multiple functions of materials, which is expected to promote the development of aggregate science theory for the design of multifunctional materials.