BINOL derivatives with aggression-induced emission

Abstract

As fluorescent probes, the small Stokes shift and ACQ effect limit the application of BINOL derivatives. Herein, a new series of BINOL derivatives were synthesized which could be turned from ACQ to AIE fluorophores by changing the electron withdrawing group. Among these compounds, BIN-COP exhibits an obvious AIE property with low cytotoxicity. The bioimaging performance indicated that the designed fluorophores could be successfully used for bioimaging.