Enhancing the Anti‐Solvatochromic Two‐Photon Fluorescence for Cirrhosis Imaging by Forming a Hydrogen‐Bond Network

Abstract

Two-photon imaging is an emerging tool for biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. Electron donor-acceptor (D-A) type molecules are the most widely employed two-photon scaffolds. However, current D-A type fluorophores suffer from solvatochromic quenching in aqueous biological samples. To address this issue, we devised a novel class of D-A type green fluorescent protein (GFP) chromophore analogues that form a hydrogen-bond network in water to improve the two-photon efficiency. Our design results in two-photon chalcone (TPC) dyes with 0.80 quantum yield and large two-photon action cross section (210 GM) in water. This strategy to form hydrogen bonds can be generalized to design two-photon materials with anti-solvatochromic fluorescence. To demonstrate the improved in vivo imaging, we designed a sulfide probe based on TPC dyes and monitored endogenous H S generation and scavenging in the cirrhotic rat liver for the first time.

Engineering a highly selective probe for ratiometric imaging of H2Sn and revealing its signaling pathway in fatty liver disease

“…Moreover, a higher level of endogenous H 2 S in NFLAD was observed aer staining with the reported H 2 S probe TPC-N 3 (Fig. S19 †), 46 which further suggests a positive correlation between H 2 S and H 2 S n production in NAFLD.…”

Bicarbazole‐based oxalates as photoinitiating systems for photopolymerization under UV–Vis LEDs

“…The solvatochromic emission resulted from the CT state in nonpolar solvents, such as toluene. The intermolecular solute–medium interactions increased with the solvent polarity, and energy loss gradually converted to nonradiative deactivation, such as fluorescence quenching, along with a reverse electron transfer, which was also the reason for the low Ф fluo in polar solvents (Table ) . In highly polar solvents, such as ACN and methanol, the fluorescence emission from the CT state almost disappeared because of the strong solute–solvent interaction (hydrogen bond) .…”

A Light‐Up Fluorescent Probe for Detection of Formaldehyde in Serum and Gaseous Based on d‐PeT Process

“…Small organic fluorophores are indispensible tools for the construction of fluorescent probes because of the controllable optical properties such as bodipy, coumarin, rhodamine, fluorescein, etc . Among them, fluorophores derived from benzothiazole are widely used as the dye platform for designing of fluorescent probes .…”