A Nonarchetypal 5,6-Dihydro-2H -pyrano[3,2-g ]indolizine-Based Solution-Solid Dual Emissive AIEgen with Multicolor Tunability

Abstract

Screening of a chemical library of pyranones and their ring transformed fluorophores led to the discovery of a novel 5,6‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrano[3,2‐g]indolizine (DPI) class of the luminogen DPI 7, which exhibited unique solution–solid dual emission (SSDE) behavior with an emission color shift from bright‐green in solution to a strong red emission in the solid state. The AIE mechanism of these luminogens revealed a well‐defined set of noncovalent interactions (CH⋅⋅⋅O and CH⋅⋅⋅N) that block the motion of C2‐flexure leading to restriction of intramolecular vibrations (RIV) in the solid state. DPI‐7 is the first example of solution–solid dual emissive RIV‐based AIEgen, which has great potential both in biomedical imaging and optoelectronic fields.