Influence of intramolecular hydrogen bond formation sites on fluorescence mechanism

The fluorescence mechanism of HBT-HBZ is investigated in this work. A fluorescent probe is used to detect HClO content in living cells and tap water, and its structure after oxidation by HCl O(HBT-ClO) is discussed based on the density functional theory(DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT). At the same time, the influence of the probe conformation and the proton transfer site within the excited state molecule on the fluorescence mechanism are revealed. Combined with infrared vibrational spectra and atoms-in-molecules theory, the strength of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in HBT-HBZ and HBT-ClO and their isomers are demonstrated qualitatively. The relationship between the strength of intramolecular hydrogen bonds and dipole moments is discussed. The potential energy curves demonstrate the feasibility of intramolecular proton transfer. The weak fluorescence phenomenon of HBT-HBZ in solution is quantitatively explained by analyzing the frontier molecular orbital and hole electron caused by charge separation. Moreover, when strong cyan fluorescence occurs in solution, the corresponding molecular structure should be HBT-ClO(T). The influence of the intramolecular hydrogen bond formation site on the molecule as a whole is also investigated by electrostatic potential analysis.

STUDIES ON FLUORESCENCE ENHANCING EFFECT AND ALKALINE DEGRADATION MECHANISM OF DOXYCYCLINE AND METHACYCLINE

Degradation reaction of doxycycline or methacycline was carried out in KOH solution and intense fluorescence was obtained.A degradation mechanism of doxycycline or methacycline was suggested.

β-Cyclodextrin derived full-spectrum fluorescent carbon dots: The formation process investigation and biological applications

Carbon dots(CDs), a new building unit, have been revolutionizing the fields of biomedicine, bioimaging, and optoelectronics with their excellent physical, chemical, and biological properties. However, the difficulty of preparing excitation-dependent full-spectrum fluorescent CDs has seriously hindered their further research in fluorescence emission mechanisms and biomedicine. Here, we report full-spectrum fluorescent CDs that exhibit controlled emission changes from purple(380 nm) to red(613 nm) at room temperature by changing the excitation wavelength, and the excitation dependence was closely related to the regulation of sp2 and sp3 hybrid carbon structures by β-cyclodextrin-related groups. In addition,by regulating the content of β-cyclodextrin, the optimal quantum yields of full-spectrum fluorescent CDs were 8.97%, 8.35%, 7.90%, 9.69% and 17.4% at the excitation wavelengths of 340, 350, 390, 410 and 540 nm,respectively. Due to their excellent biocompatibility and color tunability, full-spectrum fluorescent CDs emitted bright and steady purple, blue, green, yellow, and red fluorescence in MCF-7 cells. Moreover, we optimized the imaging conditions of CDs and mitochondrial-specific dyes;and realized the mitochondrialtargeted co-localization imaging of purple, blue and green fluorescence. After that, we also explored the effect of full-spectrum fluorescent CDs in vivo fluorescence imaging through the intratumorally, subcutaneously, and caudal vein, and found that full-spectrum fluorescent CDs had good fluorescence imaging ability in vivo.

Fluorescent probe gold nanodots to quick detect Cr(VI) via oxidoreduction quenching process

A method is described here for the quickly(<30 s) accurate determination of Cr(VI)(Cr_2O_7^(2-)), based on fluorescent probes gold nanodots(AuNDs, excitation/emission peaks at 395/604 nm) coated with glutathione(GSH). The fluorescence of the AuNDs responses linearly to Cr(VI) concentrations, ranging widely from 1 nM to 10 m M with detection limit as low as 0.35 nM. At the same time, the AuNDs is demonstrated highly selective for Cr(VI) detection over other acid group ions and metal ions without any masking reagent. These make probability for practical use. The quenching mechanism is investigated deeply via fluorescent lifetime, XPS and TEM analysis. Different from most reported quenching explanation of aggregation derived from charge attraction, these results verify the redox reaction between Cr_2O_7^(2-)and sulfhydryl(–S) of GSH. The Au(I)–S bonds of AuNDs broke, accompanies with the oxidation of –S to form S–S bonds. As a result, AuNDs cross linked to each other. In the end, the fluorescence quenched. Attractively, the present study provides a new strategy for pollutant detection, such as from harmful Cr(VI) of Cr_2O_7^(2-)to nontoxic Cr(III).

Ethanol-derived white emissive carbon dots:The formation process investigation and multi-color/white LEDs preparation

Carbon dots(CDs)have attracted much attention due to their excellent photoelectric properties and potential applications.Although previous studies have shown that almost all organic molecules can be converted into CDs via chemical carbonization,the mechanism of the conversion process remains unclear.The hydrothermal/solvothermal method commonly used to prepare CDs is complicated and leads to the generation of many by-product CDs with similar structures.Considering that the purification of the synthesized by-products is difficult,the process of CDs formation cannot be readily analyzed and understood.Herein,we use ethanol as a carbon source to synthesize white-emitting CDs(W-CDs).Column chromatography separation shows that the synthesized W-CDs are composed of blue-,cyan-,and yellow-emitting CDs that fluoresce at wavelengths corresponding to the three emission centers of W-CDs.Although the samples have similar graphitic structure,they exhibit different surface states due to variations in the degree of oxidation and carbonization.Therefore,the red-shift in their emission peaks is attributed to an increased degree of carbonization in their polymer structure.Theoretical calculations verify the experimental results,and the prepared CDs are successfully used to develop multi-color and white light-emitting diodes(LEDs).

Long-wavelength(red to near-infrared) emissive carbon dots: Key factors for synthesis, fluorescence mechanism, and applications in biosensing and cancer theranostics

Carbon dots(CDs), as a new member of carbon nanostructures, have been widely applied in extensive fields due to their exceptional physicochemical properties. While, the emissions of most reported CDs are located in the blue to green range under the excitation of ultraviolet or blue light, which severely limits their practical applications, especially in photovoltaic and biological fields. Studies that focused on synthesizing CDs with long-wavelength(red to near-infrared) emission/excitation features(simply named L-w CDs) and exploring their potential applications have been frequently reported in recent years. In this review, we analyzed the key influence factors for the synthesis of CDs with long wavelength and multicolor(containing long wavelength) emissive properties, discussed possible fluorescence mechanism,and summarized their applications in sensing and cancer theranostics. Finally, the existing challenges and potential opportunities of L-w CDs are presented.

Advances, opportunities, and challenge for full-color emissive carbon dots

Carbon dots(CDs), novel luminescent zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials, have been widely applied due to their low toxicity, optimal optical properties, and easy modification. However, the current controllable equipment and mechanism explanation of CDs are relatively vague and require urgent resolution.Full-color emission CDs, an essential CDs category, have attracted people’s attention given their light and color-tunable properties. In addition to a wider range of biological and optoelectronic device applications, full-color emission CDs have similar structures and significantly affected the fluorescence mechanism of CDs. At present, few studies have reported on the summary research of CDs emitted by its full color, which greatly limits the development of CDs mechanisms and applications. As such, the present review detailed the full-color CDs development status, to which a suitable method for preparing full-color CDs was presented and the existing fluorescence emission mechanism of full-color CDs was summarized.Herein, we comprehensively introduced full-color CDs applications in biology and optoelectronics. Finally,we made an outlook on the development and potential applications of full-color CDs. The present review aims to contribute novel insights and methods for understanding full-color CDs.