Issue 38, 2018

A multi-state fluorescent switch with multifunction of AIE, methanol-responsiveness, photochromism and mechanochromism

Abstract

In this article, we report a newly designed molecule, RhTPE, synthesized by fusing rhodamine with TPE, which realizes both emission color change and on/off switching. Compared to most of the reported fluorescent switches, such a unique structure endowed RhTPE with the multifunction of AIE, methanol-responsiveness, photochromism and mechanochromism, owing to the dynamic ring opening–closing isomerization. RhTPE is acid-sensitive and can recover to the ring-closed form (OF) by base treatment. Both RhTPE and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-treated RhTPE display AIE properties. It is noteworthy that during the aggregation process of TFA-treated RhTPE, the cyan emission strengthens while the red emission disappears, due to the aggregation-induced ring-closing reaction. RhTPE shows selective responsiveness to methanol out of all the twelve screened solvents, probably owing to the low pKa value and high polarity of methanol. More interestingly, RhTPE demonstrates excitation wavelength-dependent photochromism in several different organic solvents, which is very rarely reported in rhodamine systems. In the solid state, RhTPE has three well-distinguished high contrast states of cyan, red and dark. The reversible switch between any two states can be achieved with acid/base or mechanical force/chemical vapor.

Graphical abstract: A multi-state fluorescent switch with multifunction of AIE, methanol-responsiveness, photochromism and mechanochromism

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 7 2018
Accepted
22 8 2018
First published
24 8 2018

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018,6, 10250-10255

A multi-state fluorescent switch with multifunction of AIE, methanol-responsiveness, photochromism and mechanochromism

L. Huang, Y. Qiu, C. Wu, Z. Ma, Z. Shen and X. Jia, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2018, 6, 10250 DOI: 10.1039/C8TC03728K

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