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  3. Synthesis of fluorescent dendrimers with aggregation-induced emission features through a one-pot multi-component reaction and their utilization for biological imaging

Synthesis of fluorescent dendrimers with aggregation-induced emission features through a one-pot multi-component reaction and their utilization for biological imaging

  • J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Jan 1:509:327-333. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.039.
Weihua Luo 1,  Ruming Jiang 2,  Meiying Liu 2,  Qing Wan 2,  Jianwen Tian 2,  Yuanqing Wen 2,  Qian-Yong Cao 2,  Junfeng Hui 3,  Xiaoyong Zhang 4,  Yen Wei 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Degradable Biomedical Materials, Shaanxi R&D Center of Biomaterials and Fermentation Engineering, School of Chemical and Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, PR China; Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China.
  • 3 Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Degradable Biomedical Materials, Shaanxi R&D Center of Biomaterials and Fermentation Engineering, School of Chemical and Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, PR China.
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang 330031, China. Electronic address: xiaoyongzhang1980@gmail.com.
  • 5 Department of Chemistry and the Tsinghua Center for Frontier Polymer Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanotechnology, Chung-Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 32023, Taiwan.
PMID: 28918375 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.039
Abstract

Hyperbranched Polymers have attracted wide research attention owing to their unique topological structure, physicochemical properties and great potential for applications such asadditives, drug delivery, catalysts and nanotechnology. Among these, the polyamidoamine(PAMAM) dendrimers are some of the most important dendrimers. However, the synthesis and biomedical applications of fluorescent PAMAM dendrimers have received only limited attention. In this work, we present a rather effective and convenient approach for synthesis of fluorescent PAMAM dendrimers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties through a one-pot catalyst-free Mannich reaction under rather mild experimental conditions (e.g., low reaction temperature, air atmosphere in the presence of water). The obtained AIE-active amphiphiles (PhE-PAD) could self-assemble into fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs). The obtained AIE-active FONs (PhE-PAD FONs) were fully characterized, and their successful construction was confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Fluorescence and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy results demonstrated that the final PhE-PAD FONs showed strong yellow fluorescence, desirable photostability and good water dispersity. The cell viability evaluation and confocal laser scanning microscope imaging results suggested that PhE-PAD FONs possessed low cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility. Taken together, these results demonstrate that we have developed a facile and efficient strategy for the fabrication of AIE-active FONs, which possess many desirable features for biomedical applications.

Keywords

A one-pot Mannich reaction; Aggregated-induced emission; Biomedical applications; Fluorescent hyperbranched polymers; Fluorescent organic nanoparticles.

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