Liquid‐liquid phase separation has been recognized as an approach to realize cellular compartmentalization and create subdivisions of intracellular space into functional membraneless organelles. Multiphase coacervate droplets with complex, nested inner phases as a generic phenomenon are known to be involved in significant biochemical processes and facilitate specific functions. Herein, we present a strategy to develop molecular self‐sorting complexation that leads to the formation of lipid‐rich sub‐compartments in membraneless coacervate microdroplets. We also show the specific localization and visualization of hydrophobic lipid domains within multiphase hydrophilic droplets under a fluorescence microscope by developing a rationally synthesized aggregation‐induced emission (AIE)‐active molecule. The AIE probe with a tetraphenylethylene core and four water‐soluble glucosamine units exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity towards the lipid‐rich microdomains. We anticipate that the design of fluorescently localized self‐sorting liquid droplets will shed light on the research of mimicking multicompartalized organelles and help to understand dynamic reorganization of sub‐divided space in protocell systems.
An AIE-active tetraphenylethene-decorated pseudo-trisialic acidTPE3Swas synthesized and utilized for visualization of Siglecs expressed on the surface of cells.
Water‐soluble ratiometric AIE‐active fluorescent organic nanoparticles 2OA‐FON for the specific sensing of cysteine over other biothiols are reported. The obtained amphiphilic probe included olefin aldehyde as recognizing unit, tetraphenylethylene as fluorescence reporter and lactose moiety as a hydrophilic group. This work provides a general design strategy based on the introduction of a sugar moiety into a hydrophobic AIEgen to develop ratiometric water‐soluble fluorescent organic nanoparticles.
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