Supramolecular assembly-based tuning of optical properties of pyrrolidine, pyrimidine and morpholine functionalized naphthalimides

Abstract

Fluorophores capable of exhibiting aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) belong to an extremely important class of molecular materials. With the widespread application that ranges from medicinal usage to light emitting device fabrications, AIEE systems are known to offer a plethora of properties which has made them as one of the most heavily explored materials in the recent past. In the present work, we have prepared three naphthalimide derivatives that form self-assembled structures in DMSO/H₂O mixtures and exhibit strong AIEE behavior. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic studies have been performed to explore the self-assembly process and its impact on the fluorescence and excited state lifetime.