Benzothiazolium-functionalized tetraphenylethene: an AIE luminogen with tunable solid-state emission

Abstract

Melding a benzothiazolium unit with tetraphenylethene generates a new hemicyanine luminogen with aggregation-induced emission characteristics; the luminogen exhibits crystochromism and its solid-state emission can be repeatedly tuned from yellow or orange to red by grinding-fuming or grinding-heating processes due to the transformation from the crystalline to the amorphous state and vice versa.