γ-Glutamyltranspetidase (GGT) is a cell-membrane-bound enzyme which selectively catalyzes cleavage of the γ-glutamyl bond of glutathione (GSH). It has been identified to be overexpressed in a number of malignant tumor cells. Therefore, fluorescent probes for fast and selective detection of GGT activities are greatly needed. However, the majority of currently available GGT fluorescent probes based on direct conjugation of a γ-glutamyl group to a specific fluorophore generally has slow enzymatic kinetics due to bulky fluorophore too close to the enzyme's active site. Moreover, the uncaged fluorophore with a free amine group might undergo oxidation or other enzymatic transformation and resulted in a complicated time-dependent fluorescence response. Herein, we reported design of a novel fluorescent GGT probe NM-GSH (2), which incorporated a fast intramolecular transcyclization cascade for rapid detection of GGT activities after enzymatic cleavage of the γ-glutamyl group. This design strategy allows introduction of bulky 1,8-naphthalimide fluorophore with improved enzymatic kinetics and lowered detection limit. The transcyclized product 4 gives more than 200-fold fluorescence increment. The probe NM-GSH showed both good selectivity and fast detection of GGT activities with the detection limit as low as 0.21 mU/mL. In addition, the fluorescent product 4 contains no free amine group and is more stable for detection. Most importantly, cell imaging studies showed that the transcyclized product 4 was enriched in lysosomes for selectively lighting up GGT-overexpressed ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR5) but not normal cells (HUVEC), indicating NM-GSH's potentials as an imaging agent in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Differentiation of biologically important thiols, such as cysteine (Cys), homocysteine (Hcy), and glutathione (GSH) is still a challenging task. Herein, we present a novel fluorescent chemodosimeter capable of selectively detecting Cys over other biothiols including Hcy and GSH and other amino acids by a facile thiol-Michael addition/transcyclization rearrangement cascade click process. The unique transcyclization step is critical for the selectivity as a result of the kinetically favorable formation of a six-membered ring with the Cys Michael adduct. Moreover, the probe adopts a distinctive dual quenching mechanism-photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) to deliver a drastic turn-on fluorescence response only at the Cys-selective transcylization step. The judicious selection of strong electron-withdrawing naphthalimide fluorophore with maleimide group enhances the electrophilicity and thus reactivity for the cascade process leading to fast detection and ultrasensitivity with a detection limit of 2.0 nm (S/N=3). The probe has demonstrated its practical utility potential in Cys imaging in live cells.

The power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaics is strongly limited by relatively large energy loss, which is partially due to the disordered nature of organic semiconductors. This disordered nature not only hinders the rational design of molecules with excellent photophysical properties but also prevents a more thorough understanding of the inherent link between microscopic parameters and physical phenomena. In this Perspective, we demonstrate that the injection-dependent emission line-shape in organic semiconductors is primarily associated with a state-filling effect, where the extent of spectral blue-shift can be a strong indicator for energetic disorder. Molecular geometry with rigidity and coplanarity not only promotes preferential faceon stacking that narrows the energetic distribution of subgap states but also impedes torsional deformations of the conjugated backbone away from planarity, thereby facilitating larger π-electron delocalization. These structural characteristics explain the seemingly contradictory high radiative efficiency of low-bandgap nonfullerene molecules, providing promising molecular design strategies to realize high-efficiency organic photovoltaics.

Two novel fluorescent theranostic agents, 1a and its dimethyl ester 2a, for detection and detoxification of mercury ion poisoning are developed.

On the basis of the lanthanide metalloligand [Ln­(ODA)3]3– (H2ODA = oxydiacetic acid), three new Na–Ln heterometallic coordination polymers, [Ln­(ODA)3Na2] n [Ln = Eu (1) and Gd (2)] and [Tb­(ODA)3Na3(H2O)2] n (3), had been assembled by adjusting the concentration of Na+ ions in the reaction system. The investigations of fluorescence sensing showed that 1 could be a ratiometric probe to detect tetracycline (TC) and oxytetracycline (OTC) with high sensitivity and low detection limits, 71.92 ppb for the former and 45.54 ppb for the latter, and 3 could selectively sense 4-(phenylazo)­aniline through the turn-off pathway with 14.59 ppb of detection limits. Moreover, the competing and circulating experiments indicated that both 1 and 3 had satisfactory antiinterference and recyclability for the corresponding analytes. All of these results implied that 1 and 3 should be potential fluorescent sensors for the detection of TC/OTC and 4-(phenylazo)­aniline, and the possible sensing mechanism had also been discussed in depth.

A triptycene-coumarin hybrid dye DCT-1 with a 1,4-dimethoxybenzene group as the electron donor and a coumarin fluorophore as the acceptor on the separated fins of a triptycene was synthesized. DCT-1 features a charge separated excited state with emissions sensitive to solvent polarities. Moreover, DCT-1 also exhibits aggregation-induced emission properties in water with excellent photostability and pH-stability for potential cell imaging applications.

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