High brightness NIR-Ⅱ nanofluorophores based on fused-ring acceptor molecules

It is challenging to develop molecular fluorophores in the second near-infrared(NIR-Ⅱ)window with long wavelength emission and high brightness,which can improve the performance of biological imaging.Herein,we report a molecular engineering approach to afford NIR-Ⅱ fluorophores with these merits based on fused-ring acceptor(FRA)molecules.Dioctyl 3,4-propylenedioxy thiophene(PDOT-C8)is utilized as the bridging donor to replace 3-ethylhexyloxy thiophene(3-EHOT),leading to more than 20 times enhancement of brightness.The nanofluorophores(NFs)based on the optimized CPTIC-4F molecule exhibit an emission peak of 1,110 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield(QY)of 0.39%(QY of IR-26 is 0.050%in dichloroethane as reference)and peak absorption coefficient of 14.5 x 10^4 M^-1·cm^-1 in aqueous solutions,which are significantly higher than those of 3-EHOT based COTIC-4F NFs.It is found that PDOT-C8 can weaken intermolecular aggregation,enhance protection of molecular backbone from water,and decrease backbone distortion,beneficial for the high brightness.Compared with indocyanine green with same injection dose,CPTIC-4F NFs show 10 times higher signal-to-background ratio for whole body vessels imaging at 1,300 nm long pass filters.