Ultra-pH-Sensitive Small Molecule Probe Showing a Ratiometric Fluorescence Color Change

Junjie Cui, Gayoung Kim, Sehoon Kim, Ji Eon Kwon, Soo Young Park

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We synthesized an amphiphilic small molecule 1 by attaching oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) and N,N-diethylamine (DEA) units to a fluorescent dicyanodistyrylbenzene (DCS) core. The molecule is fully soluble in aqueous solution at low pH (pH<4.3) by protonation of the DEA groups; but, above pH 4.3, it self-assembles to form nanoparticles due to increased hydrophobicity upon deprotonation, leading to a ratiometric fluorescence color change from green emission in the monomeric form (λem,max=538 nm) to red emission in the aggregated form (λem,max=646 nm). It should be noted that the ratio of emission intensities at 538 nm and 646 nm (R=I538/I646) changes drastically about 42-fold within a very narrow pH range of 4.3–4.6.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)393-397
    Number of pages5
    JournalChemPhotoChem
    Volume4
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020 Jun 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Grant No. 2017R1E1A1A01075372 [RIAM0417‐20190019]).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

    Keywords

    • amphiphiles
    • bioimaging
    • fluorescence switching
    • pH responsiveness
    • self-assembly
    • supramolecular chemistry

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
    • Organic Chemistry

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