Peripherally Modified Tetraphenylethene: Emerging as a Room-Temperature Luminescent Disc-Like Nematic Liquid Crystal.

A blue-light-emitting liquid crystalline (LC) material was designed and prepared. By employing a twisted luminescent core (i.e., tetraphenylethene), four peripheral LC units with long alkyl chains and the small polar benzyl-ether-typed linking groups, the resulting material displayed a hexagonal columnar phase near room temperature and a disc-like nematic phase between 32 and 70 °C. The columnar LC showed a high quantum yield of 0.49 at 20 °C, and the efficient luminescence property was retained even in the isotropic phase at high temperature. Additionally, the fluidity of the nematic phase rendered the LC a non-volatile solvent, and the proper addition of a red dye led to the achievement of polarized white-light emission, which revealed a promising application prospect in LC display fabrication.

A NBD-based simple but effective fluorescent pH probe for imaging of lysosomes in living cells.

NBDlyso with lysosome-locating morpholine moiety has been developed as a high selective and sensitive fluorescent pH probe. This probe can respond to acidic pH (2.0-7.0) in a short time (less than 1 min) and not almost change after continuously illuminated for an extended period by ultraviolet light. The fluorescence intensity of NBDlyso enhanced 100-fold in acidic solution, with very good linear relationship (R(2) = 0.996). The pKa of probe NBDlyso is 4.10. Therefore, NBDlyso was used to detect lysosomal pH changes successfully. Besides, X-ray crystallography was used to verify the structure of NBDlyso, and the recognition mechanism involving photo-induced electron transfer was interpreted theoretically by means of DFT and TDDFT calculations skillfully when NBDlyso comes into play under the acidic condition. This probe showed good ability to sense pH change in living cell image.

A mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe for ratiometric detection of endogenous sulfur dioxide derivatives in cancer cells.

A new mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probe HCy-D, constructed by dansyl and hemicyanine fluorophores, for SO2 derivatives (HSO3(-)/SO3(2-)) was presented. This probe was designed based on a new FRET platform. HCy-D showed a ratiometric, sensitive and rapid response to HSO3(-)/SO3(2-). Importantly, HCy-D was successfully used for fluorescence imaging of endogenous bisulfite in HepG2 cells, which may benefit cancer diagnosis by discriminating liver cancer cells from normal liver cells.

An effective colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe for bisulfite in aqueous solution.

We have developed the first two-photon colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescent probe, BICO, for the detection of bisulfite (HSO3(-)) in aqueous solution. The probe contains coumarin and benzimidazole moieties and can detect HSO3(-) based on the Michael addition reaction with a limit of detection 5.3 × 10(-8) M in phosphate-buffered saline solution. The probe was used to detect bisulfite in tap water, sugar and dry white wine. Moreover, test strips were made and used easily. We successfully applied the probe to image living cells, using one-photon fluorescence imaging. BICO overcomes the limitations in sensitivity of previously reported probes and the solvation effect of bisulfite, which demonstrates its excellent value in practical application.