Rational design of systematic AIEEgens further modified by substituents from a novel chain structure

The expansion of new structures in aggregation-induced emission/aggregation-induced emission enhancement(AIE/AIEE)systems has attracted persistent attention recently,from which more luminescent functional molecules with characteristic skeletons are derived to satisfy specialized applications.In this study,a series of derivatives cored by tetraphenyl enamine with various terminal groups were designed and synthesized based on a novel p-πconjugate chain structure(–C=C–N–).Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that attaching modified groups to enamine core is decisive to achieve successful conversion from non-luminance to AIEE-activity.Moreover,due to different substituent effect on electronic structure,molecular conformation and molecular packing,diverse enamine compounds exhibited prominent substituent tunable emission properties,realizing regulated AIEE effect and multicolor emitting.These results not only offer a new method to design AIEgens/AIEEgens with p-πconjugate chain structures,but also provide in-depth knowledge for functional modifications of more novel AIE/AIEE units and materials.