Fluorescence imaging of surface-versatile latent fingerprints at the second and third level using double ESIPT-based AIE fluorophore

Abstract

Latent fingerprints (LFPs) identification is of paramount importance for national security and criminal investigations. We designed and synthesized fluorescent organic molecule HPBI for rapid fluorescence imaging of latent fingerprints on...

ESIPT‐based AIE luminogens: Design strategies, applications, and mechanisms

“…Another widely used backbone that is used to construct ESIPT‐based AIEgens is 2‐(2′‐hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole (HBT, Scheme 2I with X = S), which is a typical ESIPT fluorophore bearing an intramolecular hydrogen bond O─H···N and show AIE properties by virtue of RIM mechanism. [ 31, 36, 42, 45, 46, 56, 59, 63, 73, 76, 81, 100, 103, 108, 120–123, 126, 131 , 180–194 ] The emissions of HBT derivatives are easily tunable and extended to the red region, making them advantageous to be applied in bioimaging. [ 103, 126, 192, 193, 195 ] In addition, a few of ESIPT‐based AIEgens based on 2‐(2′‐hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (HBI, Scheme 2I with X = NH), [ 196 ] and 2‐(2′‐aminophenyl)benzothiazole (ABT, Scheme 2J) [ 52, 63, 90, 101, 114, 197 ] have been reported.…”

“…The detection of latent fingerprints by employing the ESIPT-based AIEgens has also been reported recently. [128][129][130][131] However, the underlying sensing mechanism and structure-activity relations remain unexplored. In addition, several ESIPT-based AIEgens based on HBT have been developed and applied as liquid crystalline materials.…”

“…A growing number of ESIPT‐based AIEgens have been developed and applied in the detection of cations, [ 28–57 ] anions, [ 34, 35, 41, 43, 58–68 ] and small molecules, [ 69–76 ] bioimaging in the living cell and in vivo, [ 77–116 ] drug delivery systems (DDS), [ 44, 117–119 ] liquid crystal, [ 120–122 ] white light emitters, [ 123–127 ] and latent fingerprinting. [ 56, 128–131 ]…”

“…A growing number of ESIPT-based AIEgens have been developed and applied in the detection of cations, anions, [34,35,41,43,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] and small molecules, [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76] bioimaging in the living cell and in vivo, drug delivery systems (DDS), [44,[117][118][119] liquid crystal, [120][121][122] white light emitters, [123][124][125][126][127] and latent fingerprinting. [56,[128][129][130][131] Fluorescence quenching of AIEgens in dilute solutions resulted from the consumption of excited-state energies by intramolecular motions, including vibrational motions, rotational motions, and both of them. In aggregated states, these intramolecular motions will be restricted owning to the intermolecular interactions and AIE will be active.…”

Cross-Linking Induced Emission of Polymer Micelles for High-Contrast Visualization Level 3 Details of Latent Fingerprints

“…Among the reported methods, fluorescence imaging of LFPs has received great research interest because of its excellent merits including high sensitivity, spatial resolution, etc. − , Recently, a lot of research has focused on the construction of fluorescent materials for efficient LFPs imaging. − Unfortunately, most of the reported fluorescent materials were based on traditional organic fluorescent dyes, whose aggregation induced quenching (ACQ) phenomenon can easily occur at high concentrations or in aggregated states. − Additionally, these traditional organic fluorescent dyes with small Stokes shift usually appeared with a self-absorption effect, thus leading to self-annihilation of fluorescence. − To effectively solve the ACQ defect, the uncommon aggregation induced emission (AIE) fluorophores, which were first discovered by Tang’s group in 2001, have been widely utilized in various areas due to the outstanding features of high photostability, large Stokes shift, tunable molecular structure, etc. In view of their excellent features, the AIE based materials have been rationally designed and employed for LFPs imaging. ,− In spite of many positive virtues, these reported AIE materials still have some shortcomings in practical LFPs applications: (1) they commonly used an organic solvent or an organic/water mixture to improve the solubility, but the organic solvent inevitably caused LFPs damage; (2) the low optical contrast from fluorescence “on–on” mode limited them in practical LFPs applications. To solve the above issues, the design and synthesis of AIE materials with good water solubility and “off–on” responsive fluorescence mode is urgently desirable for high-contrast fluorescence imaging of LFPs.…”