Citation: Hui Guo, Wen-Wen Li, Mei-Yin Wu, Jian-Bo Hu, Jun Wang, Yun Liu, Yang Zou, Chu-Luo Yang, Kai-Lu Zheng. Indolizine-benzophenone hybrid acceptors enable TADF materials for bioimaging and photodynamic therapy in living cells[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(1): 111721. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111721 shu

Indolizine-benzophenone hybrid acceptors enable TADF materials for bioimaging and photodynamic therapy in living cells

Hui Guo ^{a, b} ,
Wen-Wen Li ^a ,
Mei-Yin Wu ^a ,
Jian-Bo Hu ^a ,
Jun Wang ^a ,
Yun Liu ^{a, *,} ,
Yang Zou ^c ,
Chu-Luo Yang ^{c, *,} ,
Kai-Lu Zheng ^{a, *,}

a.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Natural Drugs Research and Development, School of Pharmacy, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan 523808, China
b.
Department of Pharmacy, Shantou Central Hospital, Shantou 515031, China
c.
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of New Information Display and Storage Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

liuyun0171@whu.edu.cn

clyang@szu.edu.cn

kailuzheng@gdmu.edu.cn

Received Date: 10 April 2025
Revised Date: 12 August 2025
Accepted Date: 14 August 2025
Available Online: 14 August 2025

Figures(4)

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters show great potential in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and bioimaging, leveraging their structural adaptability, efficient reverse intersystem crossing (RISC), robust photosensitizing capability, and high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). Herein, we developed a new class of donor–acceptor–donor (D-A-D)-type TADF materials by connecting the highly twisted indolizine-benzophenone electron acceptors with a series of electron donors including phenoxazine, phenothiazine and 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine. These materials exhibit enhanced TADF properties, aggregation-induced emission (AIE), alongside high reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation efficiency, effectively mitigating aggregation-caused quenching observed in traditional fluorophores. Among them, IDP-p-PXZ, incorporating the phenoxazine donor, stands out with the smallest singlet–triplet splitting energy (ΔE_ST) and the highest spin-orbit coupling matrix elements (SOCMEs). Upon encapsulation into 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] (DSPE-PEG2000) nanoparticles (NPs), IDP-p-PXZ demonstrates extended delayed fluorescence lifetimes in air, an exceptionally fast intersystem crossing (ISC) rate constant (k_ISC) of 3.4 × 10⁷ s⁻¹, and a radiative rate constant (k_r) of 5.05 × 10⁶ s⁻¹. These NPs exhibit superior biocompatibility, efficient cellular internalization, and potent ROS production, enabling effective simultaneous PDT and confocal fluorescence imaging in HeLa cells.
- Indolizine-benzophenone,
- Thermally activated delayed fluorescence,
- Aggregation-induced emission,
- Photodynamic therapy,
- Bioimaging
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