“Living” fluorophores: Thermo-driven reversible ACQ-AIE transformation and ultra-sensitive in-situ monitor for dynamic Diels-Alder reactions

Organic fluorophores play essential roles in both academic and applied fields. Most of the fluorescent molecules can be divided into aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) types based on the diverse emission properties in solution and aggregated states. Currently, a large part of studies focuses on the ACQ-to-AIE one-way transformation and the complex synthesis of chemical bonds is inevitable in all existing methods. To maximize the advantages of ACQ and AIE types fluorophores and avoid complex chemosynthesis, we propose a facile strategy first realizing the reversible ACQ-AIE transformation with the dynamic Diels-Alder (DA) reactions. Besides, the fluorescent platform can monitor DA reactions in microscale ultra-sensitively and quantitively. The dynamic covalent bonds can help to develop novel fluorophores creatively, and the reversible ACQ-AIE platform is expected to offer fresh insights into the dynamic covalent chemistry.