Ultrabright Fluorescent Organic Nanoparticles

Ultrabright fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) hold great promise for demanding bioimaging applications. Recently, extremely bright molecular crystals of cationic fluorophores were obtained by hierarchical co-assembly with cyanostar anion-receptor complexes. These small-molecule ionic isolation lattices (SMILES) ensure spatial and electronic isolation to prohibit aggregation quenching of dyes. Here, a simple, one-step supramolecular approach to formulate SMILES materials into NPs is reported.

Amar Flood (Indiana U.)

Ultrabright fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) hold great promise for demanding bioimaging applications. Recently, extremely bright molecular crystals of cationic fluorophores were obtained by hierarchical co-assembly with cyanostar anion-receptor complexes. These small-molecule ionic isolation lattices (SMILES) ensure spatial and electronic isolation to prohibit aggregation quenching of dyes. Here, a simple, one-step supramolecular approach to formulate SMILES materials into NPs is reported. Rhodamine-based SMILES NPs stabilized by glycol amphiphiles show high fluorescence quantum yield (30%) and brightness per volume (5000 M-1 cm -1/nm3) with 400 dye molecules packed into 16-nm particles, corresponding to a particle absorption coefficient of 4 X 107 M-1 cm-1. UV excitation of the cyanostar component leads to higher brightness (>6000 M-1 cm -1/nm3) by energy transfer to rhodamine emitters. Coated NPs stain cells and are thus promising for bioimaging. Bioimaging applications were confirmed by imaging living mammalian cells labeled with surfactant-capped SMILES NPs. The simple approach opens up a new way to develop bright and full-organic fluorescent NPs with both tunable and predictable properties for optical applications.

Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)