Electrochemiluminescence Enhanced by Restriction of Intramolecular Motions (RIM): Tetraphenylethylene Microcrystals as a Novel Emitter for Mucin 1 Detection

Abstract

Apart from the reported energy transfer mechanism of aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AI-ECL) enhancement, a new strategy named restriction of intramolecular motions-driven ECL (RIM-ECL) enhancement is first proposed based on the phenomenon of a very strong electrochemiluminescence observed on the hexagonal tetraphenylethylene microcrystals (TPE MCs) in aqueous solution. Compared to TPE in molecule-isolation state with faint ECL, TPE in aggregate state (TPE MCs) showed a significantly enhanced ECL that was due to the restriction of intramolecular motions (RIM). Inspired by the unique luminescence characteristic of TPE MCs, we integrated the novel ECL emitter of TPE MCs and target-activated bipedal DNA walker together to fabricate a sensitive "off-on" ECL biosensor for Mucin 1 (MUC1) assay, which exhibited desirable linear response for a concentration scope from 1 fg/mL to 1 ng/mL with a low detection limit of 0.29 fg/mL. The RIM enhanced ECL demonstrated by the TPE MCs provides a new chapter in the exploration of aggregated organic emitters for further applications.

Recent Advances in Aggregation‐Induced Electrochemiluminescence

“…2019, 25,12671 -12683 www.chemeurj.org 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim dition method-based recovery experiments were executed to evaluatet he feasibility in whole bloods amples. [47] This application proved to be agiant leap in the use of AIECL.…”

“…Another attractive report focused on hexagonal TPEm icrocrystals( TPE MCs) as effective ECL emitters ( Figure 10). [47] TPE MCs were synthesized by surfactant-assisteds elf-assembly techniques. First, the TPE powderw as dissolved and sonicated in THF solution.…”

“…TPE MCs also detected MUC1 in human serum for clinical diagnosis. After the optimal sensitivity and stability of ECL responses toward MUC1 were guaranteed, standard addition method‐based recovery experiments were executed to evaluate the feasibility in whole blood samples . This application proved to be a giant leap in the use of AIECL.…”

“…The inset showsaschematic diagram of the relationship between emission intensity and molecular states for TPE. Reproduced with permission from Ref [47]…”

Highly Efficient Aggregation-Induced Electrochemiluminescence of Polyfluorene Derivative Nanoparticles Containing Tetraphenylethylene

“…Our group first reported that the carborane structure could enhance the ECL signal of carbazole molecule and established the relation between AIE organic structures and ECL properties (Wei et al., 2019a, Wei et al., 2019b). So far, research on AIECL is still in its infancy, focusing on the discovery of new molecules with AIECL properties (Han et al., 2019, Wei et al., 2019a, Wei et al., 2019b, Jiang et al., 2019a, Jiang et al., 2019b). It is urgent to develop the ultra-efficient biocompatible AIECL luminophores with strong potential for biological applications (Valenti et al., 2017, Voci et al., 2018, Zhang et al., 2019).…”