s‐Heptazines are emerging as strong electron acceptors for efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials, yet the difficulties in synthesizing them have limited their practical use. Here, three novel s‐heptazine TADF materials with green to deep‐red emission (λmax = 525–664 nm) and high photoluminescence quantum yields, synthesized by either pseudoelectrophilic substitution or Negishi coupling routes, are described. These materials also demonstrate strong nonlinear optical absorption, with two‐photon cross sections up to 1260 GM. With deep‐red fluorescence, strong two‐photon absorption, high quantum yield, and delayed fluorescence, the emitter HAP‐3MeOTPA is ideally suited for use in nanoparticle‐based bioimaging experiments. The two kinds of luminescent nanoparticle are prepared, namely hostless, aggregate‐based organic dots (a‐Odots) and rigid, glassy Odots (g‐Odots) as biocompatible and water‐dispersible TADF probes. The g‐Odots are shown to retain the nonlinear optical properties, high photoluminescence quantum yield, and TADF observed in the constituent heptazine dye. These g‐Odots are then used as biological imaging probes with immortalized human kidney cancer (HEK293) cells, and single and multi‐photon‐excited microscopy coupled with time‐gated luminescence measurements are demonstrated. This work not only describes new routes to efficient heptazine‐based TADF materials, but also demonstrates their potential as nanoparticle‐based bioimaging probes combining several advanced optical functions.
Fluorescence imaging of living cells is key to better understanding cellular morphology and biological processes.
The development of deep-red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is important for applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and biological imaging. Design strategies for red-shifting emission include synthesizing rigid acceptor cores to limit nonradiative decay and employing strong electron-donating groups. In this work, three novel luminescent donor−acceptor compounds based on the dibenzo[a,c]dipyrido[3,2-h:20-30-j]-phenazine-12-yl (BPPZ) acceptor were prepared using dendritic carbazole-based donors 3,3″,6,6″-tetramethoxy-9′H-9,3′:6′,9″-tercarbazole (TMTC), N 3 ,N 3 ,N 6 ,N 6 -tetra-p-tolyl-9H-carbazole-3,6-diamine (TTAC), and N 3 ,N 3 ,N 6 ,N 6 -tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)-9H-carbazole-3,6-diamine (TMAC). Here, dimethoxycarbazole, ditolylamine, and bis(4-methoxyphenyl)amine were introduced at the 3,6-positions of carbazole to increase the strength of these donors and induce long-wavelength emission. Substituent effects were investigated with experiments and theoretical calculations. The emission maxima of these materials in toluene were found to be 562, 658, and 680 nm for BPPZ-2TMTC, BPPZ-2TTAC, and BPPZ-2TMAC, respectively, highlighting the exceptional strength of the TMAC donor, which pushes the emission into the deep-red region of the visible spectrum as well as into the biological transparency window (650− 1350 nm). Long-lived emission lifetimes were observed in each emitter due to TADF in BPPZ-2TMC and BPPZ-2TTAC, as well as room-temperature phosphorescence in BPPZ-2TMAC. Overall, this work showcases deep-red emissive dendritic donor−acceptor materials which have potential as bioimaging agents with emission in the biological transparency window.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.