Metal complexes that
exhibit both near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence
imaging and chemotherapeutic activity would represent a novel class
of anticancer drugs in clinical tumor treatment. In this work, a series
of novel rodlike nanomicelles have been fabricated in water by coupling
poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(sodium acrylate)
and [Rh(CN-2,6-xylyl)4]+(1/2SO4)−. These nanomicelles
exhibit intense NIR phosphorescence and excellent stability. As revealed
by in vivo NIR phosphorescence imaging data, the rodlike nanomicelle
can selectively stain tumor sites with a long retention time. Moreover,
the nanorods demonstrate effective anticancer activity by precisely
killing tumor tissues without damaging healthy organs in vivo. To
the best of our knowledge, this research provides the first example
of metal-based complexes showing simultaneous NIR luminescence imaging
and antitumor activity in vivo.
Pure stereoisomers of tetraphenylethene derivatives functionalized with dibenzylamine groups, E and Z conformers, were successfully synthesized. Their aggregation-enhanced emissions, which occurred through host-guest recognition with a dibenzo-24-crown-8 based tetraphenylethene under an acid condition, showed recognizable isomerization effects. Scheme 1 Synthetic routes of E-2DBA-TPE, Z-2DBA-TPE and 4DB24C8-TPE. Inset: photographs of solid powders of E-2DBA-TPE and Z-2DBA-TPE under UV irradiation at 365 nm. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthesis and characterization of 4DB24C8-TPE, E-2DBA-TPE and Z-2DBA-TPE, DLS plots, SEM and TEM images of E/Z supramolecular polymers. See
The electrostatic combination of anionic block copolymers with cationic gold(i) complexes leads to the formation of spherical micelles, where gold(i)-containing ionic cores were formed with anionic blocks and further stabilized by neutral blocks of polystyrene or poly(ethylene oxide). This self-assembled strategy induces remarkable phosphorescence enhancement of the gold(i) complexes in solution. The emissive intensity increases unexpectedly with increasing molecular weight of the anionic block that is not coordinated onto the gold(i) complexes. The intensely phosphorescent micelles formed in water can be utilized as a luminescence bioimaging probe in living cells.
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